


Not Facsimile

by SweeTarts151



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Konnor is small bean in need of love, Slow Burn, alex is human diaster, cadmus is bad, cloning, kara is a ball of love and rage, like glacier slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2018-10-10 14:49:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 83,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10440165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweeTarts151/pseuds/SweeTarts151
Summary: Alternate to Supergirl Season 2 episode 1: Mon-El is not in the pod.Kara knows three things that are certain. One, they boy in this pod looks familiar. Two, Cadmus is coming out of the shadows. Three, family game night is bound to get more interesting.





	1. Train Wreck

Supergirl easily peels the lid of the spaceship that had streaked through National City's skies and tore into the ground right outside the city docks. It's so much like her own she aches at the familiarity. Inside is a boy, broad-chest and unconscious. Dark hair unkempt and white suit ripped and stained with blood and dirt. "J'onn?" She's scared to touch him, his chest rising and falling so very slowly.

The martian steps close, tilting his head. "I'm getting flickers of images. Dreams." He pauses, narrowing his eyes. "His mind is Kryptonian yet _not."_ The martian bends down, closing glowing red eyes. "He's a refugee, I think. Barely escaped captivity. He had help."

"The ship looks like mine." Supergirl prods at it, the metal doesn't crumple like earth metal does but it still creaks. "But its like when Alex recreates things. There's a human element to it. Slightly rudimentary."

J'onn peers down at the boy, eyes still glowing. "Lets get him back to the DEO."

The hero nervously looks to his battered form. "To the med-bay in the desert? Alex will take thirty minutes to get out there."

"We have a branch in town, take him there. Major Lane will be in charge of the HQ and keeping the prisoners contained while we're here. I have a feeling we'll need to be closer to National City in the coming days."

"Why?" Kara bends down, picking up the boy easily, wary of his injuries but confident with J'onn admission that he might be kryptonian. He is denser than a human would be. Definitely alien, but he smells like a lab. And anger. So much anger. Not at all like Krypton's sweet scent.

"Just a feeling, I fear we will hear from whoever he came from."

Supergirl follows his gaze to the dashboard inside the ship. A blinking light announcing tracking has been activated. "I'll get him to Alex, she'll check him over."

"I'll take the ship to the ocean, we can't risk them knowing we came across it." He heaves it up easily, flying away as Supergirl shifts the boy to a one arm hold, head tucked against her as his arms limply fall over her shoulder, legs dangling. She presses on her Bluetooth and Alex answers right away.

"K-Supergirl, are you okay?" Her voice is terse and worried, she can hear the revving of Alex turning on her motorcycle, the muffling of the helmet on her head as she speaks over the earpiece.

Kara juggles the boy into a more comfortable grip for his battered body. "Yeah, meet me at the National City DEO."

"How do y-"

"J'onn told me. I'll follow your heartbeat there, I have a boy you need to check over." Her lips dip into a frown at his bloodied forearms and split lip. "I don't know how badly he's hurt Alex."

* * *

* * *

Supergirl easily flies in through a window, no street lights around the building. The agents in there look up sharply but apparently they've been briefed as they let her pass. The place smells new, like fresh paint and chemicals. She follows the smell of medical until she makes it there, Alex's heartbeat in the garage below them. She sets the boy down on the examination table as Alex comes bustling in, heart as steady as it always is even though she ran up the stairs. She was one of three doctors in this half of the states that dealt with multiple alien biology and the boy is definitely an alien of unknown origins. "Species?" She's in doctor mode, slipping gloves on and moving machines into place easily.

"Don't know, J'onn said he feels kryptonian but he can read his mind." Kara's fingers wrap around one another as she watches the boy's chest rise and fall slowly. "Mostly."

Alex furrows her brow, looking him over, her eyes stop over the ripped suit, focusing on the piece dangling from his broad chest. She tilts her head as she turns away from the ripped suit, grabbing a needle from the rolling table she attempts to draw blood just to be sure her hypothesis is right. It doesn't shatter like it would against Kara's skin, but it won't go through the skin. "Slightly durable skin." She grabs a kryptonite tipped needle from a lead box, Kara backing up with a wheeze, before Alex is slipping the needle into his arm. "Definitely kyrptonian or a species from that vicinity in the galaxy." Alex draws blood quickly, passing it off to a lab tech. "Get that in my computer now." 

Kara furrows her brow, nervously wringing her fingers together as Alex shoves the needle back into the box, locking it with a pass code. The hairs on Kara's arm settle and her body relaxes when the kryptonite is put away. "Alex?"

"Give me a minute." Alex says as she slips a stethoscope over her ears, listening to his heart, then his lungs carefully. "Listen Kara." Hazel eyes are full of something as she motions to the boy.

Kara adjusts her hearing, focusing on the boy. His heart thumps once and holds. Her own thumps in her chest, at a slightly slower pace than his. The boy's starts again long before hers but much slower than Alex's. "It's slow, but not as slow as mine."

"Listen to his lungs."

Kara focuses and hears the telling sign of a flap closing that shouldn't be there in a human body, but is there for kryptonians, as he releases a slow breath. "So he's Kryptonian?" Kara furrows her brow, confused. She does not recognize the boy, there's familiar features to the angle of his jaw. But the nose makes it hard to distinguish.

"Part."

Kara looks up to Alex sharply. "Part?"

And Alex is tense muscles as she cleans off an abrasion across his slowly rising chest. "If i'm right, he's a hybrid."

Alex won't look up to met Kara's eyes and Kara grips her cape tightly. "How?"

"When you an J'onn found him, what was he in?" She finally looks up at Kara and there's that look of solving a difficult equation in her eyes, something Kara is familiar with.

"A ship like mine, but different." Kara steps close, pointing quickly at the scanner in the corner Alex and Jose had worked on months ago, using it as an example. "Human modifications, like that."

"The only place to work with human and alien modifications is CADMUS." Alex's moves her fingers towards the boy, they don't shake and her voice is steady. "They _experiment_ Kara."

"So you're saying CADMUS had a kryptonian and a human?" Kara gestures with her hands and scrunches her nose at the thought. "He has to be sixteen or seventeen, Fort Rozz only landed twelve, almost thirteen, years ago."

"But there was a kyrptonian here before you and the others."

"Kal?" Kara snorts, shaking her head. "But he has never dealt with CADMUS."

"But he did deal with Lex Luthor Kara. If i'm right." Alex shudders finally, like she might shatter the atmosphere with her words alone. "Clark won't like this."

"Why? What is it?"

"Look at his face, who does he remind you of?" 

Kara furrows her brows, tilting her head as she surveys the boy again. "Kal, but only because of the hair and the chin."

The machine in the adjacent lab beeps and Alex stops assessing the boy's injuries. "Wait for me." She yells to the lab tech before she continues to clean the abrasions, which haven't healed yet but aren't bleeding anymore. She pulls a new mobile sun-lamp over and hooks him to an i.v. and a heart monitor. "He's fine. Mostly exhausted. He'll come around." They make their way to the computer, Alex hurrying and Kara on her heels.

There's a complex series of DNA and chemical compounds up on the computer screen and Kara wishes for once she would have continued on with science. That it hadn't made her ache deep in her chest when she took the science classes that would be considered primitive on Krypton. That she didn't steer clear of anything involving science guild like a plague. "What does that mean?"

Alex grits her teeth, typing on the computer and pulling up files. "Colonel Harper has ties to the Luthor's. J'onn and I were investigating when we were on the run. A lab tech had files. Files on failed human cloning that had Harper's signature on them." Her eyes dart to Supergirl's as the machine beeps in either affirmation or rejection. "It means CADMUS had Lex Luthor's approval before he went to jail. Before he tried to kill Superman."

"Alex." Kara is staring at the screen, the machine still beeping at them. "Why is Kal's file on screen?"

"The boy is am almost perfect genetic clone of Clark Kent. Of Superman"

Kara grits her teeth but her eyes are wide, fingers trembling. "They've cloned kryptonians?"

Alex pulls up the file on Lex and the computer chimes again. "He has genetic modifications, _Luthor_ genetic modifications." Alex clicks something on the screen and everything vanishes, she yanks out a USB and shuts off the computer as she moves back to the boy quickly, Kara at her heels. "Lex Luthor had CADMUS create a clone of Superman with a splice of his and Clark's blood. Enough human in him to make him more vulnerable than a kyrptonian, but possibly enough Kryptonian to have all the powers." Alex grabs the tattered edge of the white suit the boy is in, pulling it until it covers his chest once again. In red across the white suit is the House of El crest. Exactly what Alex had first seen when she walked in, Kara too preoccupied with the boy's health while Alex had surveyed like she always had.

"What does," Kara swallow, fingers twisting in her cape as she stares at the red crest. "What does this mean?"

"It means CADMUS will come for him."

Kara tilts her head high, jaw clenched. "They won't get him, blood bonds us all." Her words are terse and promising. "I won't let them have him."

Alex runs her tongue over her teeth. "What will you tell Clark?"

"He's coming down for interviews with the CEO's of National City in the morning. We'll tell him then." Kara stares at the boy, tilting her chin down, worrying her lip. "Will he be okay?"

"He escaped from CADMUS, I don't want to think of what they did in there." Fingers brush over his bruised knuckles as his heart monitor continues to beep at a slow steady pace.

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

The boy is still unconscious when Clark gets there in the morning, dropping down from flight easily. He glares at J'onn when he walks in but hugs Kara tightly. "Hey cousin."

"Hello Kal-El." Kara grins, squeezing him until his bones creak. She turns after releasing him and misses the slight wince at the name as she plows on with the news. "I have something to tell you."

He steps close, tilting his head, curious and worried. "What is it?"

There is a crash before Kara can answer him and they both go running at super-speed. The boy has his hand around Alex's throat, eyes narrowed and teeth barred as he snarls something at her. Both kryptonians make a move to step forward but Alex throws up her legs to the boy's chest, digging her fingers into his wrist and twisting it all at the same time.

Not expecting the move nor the ferocity of it the boy stumbles back as Alex deftly scrambles to stay on her feet once she's dropped. He blinks in confusion and Alex holds up her hands in a calming manner, her face ashen like it had been when Kara had woken from her nightmares all those years ago. "We aren't here to hurt you."

"That's what they all _say!"_ He roars, slamming his hands into the table beside him. It collapses under the force, crumpling like paper. 

Kara comes forward too, itching to get Alex away, to help this boy who wore devastation in his eyes like she did. "I promise, she won't hurt you. We're just trying to help." She holds her hands up in a calming manner.

"You can't help me!" He moves to throw the pieces of the table at Kara when Superman slams into him, pinning him to the floor. 

"Enough!" Clark turns to look at the two women standing there. "What is going on?"

Blue eyes flicker down to the boy struggling under Kal's strength. "He escaped from CADMUS."

Superman, flits his gaze to look down at the boy. "What is he?" His jaw is clicking, eye narrowed in suspicion.

Alex is tense, glaring at Superman as the boy continues to struggle, screaming in rage, incoherent words. "Let him go, we can explain it in the other room."

Superman purses his lips and moves to speak when the boy yells. "I'm your clone!" The boy roars finally, denting the floor with his flailing feet, as he finds enough clear thought to produce words despite his rage. "Get off me!"

"Hey, calm down." Kara steps closer, putting her hand on Superman's shoulder to get him to loosen his grip. "Nobody wants to hurt you."

Superman jerks away from them all. "My clone? He's not kryptonian. Alex wouldn't have knocked him off her."

"Not fully." Alex murmurs, grabbing Clark's trembling elbow. "Supergirl will handle him, come on."

He follows her out of the room until they are in a conference room, alone and lined with lead. "What has _CADMUS_  done?" His words shake, confused and angry.

* * *

Clark sits in a chair after she's explained everything, looking more like the confused small town boy than the superhero, shoulders slumped and fingers running through windblown dark hair. "What will you do with him?" Clark questions.

Hazel eyes shift over the superhero. "I thought you might want a say in that."

"Why?" Blue eyes narrow in shock and suspicion.

Alex shrugs. staring at Clark like she's waiting for a bomb to drop. "He's your blood."

Clark stands up quickly, looming over Alex in his haste. "Don't. Don't say that. He is _not_ my blood."

"Kara's already claimed him as blood."

"That's Kara. He's." Clark stumbles over his words. "He's a clone. _You_ understand, Kara doesn't. She hasn't been on Earth all her life. She grew up with a codex. With something that creates perfect genes. She can't understand this." His voice is pitched low but frantic.

Alex watches him like he's one of her experiments, like she knows where this is going as she prods him with questions. "So, what does this have to do with the boy?"

"CADMUS. _Lex Luthor_ violated me." His words, in contempt, drop to a low growl. "He _cloned_ me and mixed his own blood into it." Clark digs his fingers into his hair.

 _"It_ is a _boy."_ And she's stepping closer to him, drawing her shoulders back. "Who is confused, by the way."

"No, I can't do this."

"So you'll abandon him just like you abandoned Kara?" The words are full of anger at the man who claimed to have the whole world on his shoulders.

"I was twenty-four, I couldn't deal with a thirteen year old." He searching her face for sympathy. "I _couldn't."_

Alex glares at him, fists clenched at her side. "She was thirteen and expected to raise you."

"I am _not_ her." He shakes his head, face twisted in confusion, grief, disgust and rage. So many emotions that he can barely process. "I can't."

"So what, you expect us to send him back?" Alex invades his space, looking up at him like he doesn't have more than a foot of height to her. "Let them have him?"

"The DEO can watch him."

Alex scoffs, shaking her head, glad for the lead lining the room that hides them from Kara. That prevents her from hearing this. "You hate the DEO."

His eyes are wide and frantic. "Kara ca-."

"Kara is twenty-four, the same age as you were when she landed, or have you forgotten?" Alex sneers, shaking her head. "Run away, just like you always do."

His face shifts, smoothing over and his voice drops in octave, every bit of stern superhero he personifies. "Alex."

"No, you're too busy playing hero, you abandon everyone who needs you." Alex shakes her head, eyes still burning into him. "But just like last time I will pick up your slack. I will do this again, not for you, but because this boy needs someone who can help him, not someone who looks at him likes he's an abomination."

"Alex, just." He sighs roughly, voice falling back from the edge. "Just tell Kar-"

"No, tell her _yourself._ I'm not your messenger." She shakes her head, stepping away from him. "I don't know what the world sees in you. I don't know what Kara sees in you."

He clenches his jaw. "Alex."

"No. I am _done_ talking to you." And she leaves the hero there, confused and angry. Stewing in his own hate, resentment and loss.

* * *

* * *

* * *

Kara is sitting cross-legged on one of the examination tables, smiling at the boy. "So Alex will run some tests on you."

He glares at them. "I am used to tests."

Alex grabs the data-pad, typing in a few thing before looking up at the boy. "How old are you?"

"Nine months."

Alex stops what she is doing, turning to look at him. "Nine months?

"They grew me." He shrugs, jaw clenched. "I've been _awake_ nine months. They've been testing me."

"Physically you are fifteen." And she plows on like everything he just said wasn't a shock. Like it didn't make her boil with rage at CADMUS. "Maybe sixteen. Though you could pass for older. Mentally I don't know yet." She motions to his arm. "Can I?"

He shrugs again, Alex waits until he huffs and speaks. _"Yes."_ She grabs his arm, turning it so she can see the spot where a deep abrasion was hours ago. "I do not understand why you ask."

"Because not asking is impolite." Her voice is low but he can hear an edge to it. Something he can't name.

"CADMUS never asked." He grunts out, watching her hands move gently across his wounds.

"We are _not_ CADMUS." Alex stares him straight in the eye, there's a tremble hidden under the anger and determination in her voice. "They won't get you back." She brushes gloved fingers over the skin on his forearm. "Its healed well, slower than Kara, but that's expected with being half human."

He turns stare at Alex eyes narrowed. "How long does it take you to heal?"

"Weeks. Sometimes days, depends on the wound." There's a stiffness to the way she walks that he recognizes as pained. Like she's still healing. "Kara will heal in an hour under sunlamps, a day if she hurt too bad."

The boy tenses, staring at the now unmarred skin on his arm. "Superman?"

"Much slower than Kara." And Alex smiles at him, head tilted to the side. "She's special."

The boy quiets. Kara bounces on the other bed, making it creak. Alex shoots her a warning look and the hero stops bouncing, quickly rising to come stand next to Alex. "So, clean bill?"

Alex pulls the sleeve of his borrowed shirt back down. "Officially allowed to leave the hospital bed."

"Where's Superman?"

Kara winces and Alex sighs before Kara answers. "Clark's being human right now."

The boy furrows his brow. "Human?"

"He and I have day jobs. We have to do it between our superhero gigs." Kara grins, wiggles her shoulders happily.

The boy's shoulders stiffen and he glares at them. "So he wants nothing to do with me?"

Kara stumbles over her words. "He's not. No. It's just." Her face scrunches.

Alex throws her gloves in the trash. "He's wants nothing to do with you."

"Alex!" Kara's is all stiff muscles and a hard glare as she hisses the other woman's name. The boy looks between them with narrowed eyes.

"What?" Alex is jerking muscles and eyes dark with challenge. "He needs the truth, i'm not going to lie to him. Clark repeatedly does this. He lacks responsibility."

"No, he's just busy Alex."

"So are you, you do the exact _same_ thing he does." Alex hastily pulls off the lab coat, moving to hang it on the wall. Tense, the boy watches them from his position on the examination table.

"It's not." Kara's hands flutter and her forehead crinkles.

"I know you love him." And Alex's fingers tighten on the lab coat she was hanging up. "I know he is your cousin, your hero, but he's not perfect Kara."

"Alex, I don't." Kara sighs, sad eyes and fingers twitching. "You are my hero."

Alex lets out a low sound, running her hand through her hair. "Just quit making him out to be better than he is." Alex's eyes are bloodshot and her hands shake but her lips are pursed. "He abandoned you, I don't know why we thought now would be any different."

"He's just struggling. He'll be back tomorrow once he's processed everything." And Kara face is wrinkled with a soft desperation. "He and Lois are in a good pla-"

"Do _not_ defend him to me. I know how he is, I thought you did too." Alex clenches her jaw and shuts the cabinet containing the stethoscope, her entire body seems to tense suddenly. "But I saw the e-mails." And the words crack from her lips like they weren't meant to escape.

Kara slumps her shoulders, Supergirl cape no longer standing proud but wrinkling with twisting fingers too strong for all but the kryptonian fabric. "Alex don't do this."

Alex is facing the cabinet, hands tight across the handle and her chest is stuttering under twin blue eyes. Kara watching her with grief and the boy with confusion. "Am I just suppose to ignore that you want to go to Metropolis?"

"I've made everything harder here, I've brought CADMUS here, the DEO has to watch where they put Kryptonite now and I know you worry too much about me. If I was in Metropolis Kal could watch my back, you wouldn't have to worry. There's so much I want to learn from him." Kara eyes her, desperately searching for something. "What do you think?"

"I think I've kept my mouth shut every time Clark comes around." Alex moves suddenly, like she has a new purpose and begins putting away the rest of the medical tools with jerking motions, under the boy's furrowed brows and Kara's pained eyes. "And you ignore me each time he comes and I've dealt with it but now you want to move _away."_

"I thought it would be good for you." And the blonde is reaching for Alex but she stops herself at the tense set to the human's shoulders. "You wouldn't have to take care of me anymore."

"What about taking care of each other?" And her words crack like Kara's had after Red K. Like her entire world had ended. "Are you going to watch him, help him?" She motions to the boy sitting atop the examination table, eyes darting between the two women. "Or will Clark put a stipulation on your visits? I helped a kryptonian acclimate before and I can do it alone again."

"Alex you are not doing this alone." The kryptonian steps closer to Alex, meeting hazel eyes easily with otherworldly blue. "Clark and I will take him, we'll train him. This is not about you or Clark over the other. I just." Kara sighs. "When i'm with him I feel connected to someone who understands what it's like to be me. We can do that for him too."

Alex stares at her, refusing to drop wide blue eyes. "Do you understand that he abandoned you? That he's abandoning a refugee from CADMUS."

Kara sighs, dropping her shoulders as she steps closer, brows furrowed. "I thought you'd want me gone, that it'd make it easier for you with me gone."

"I never want you gone Kara. _Never."_

"Then I won't go." Her gaze flickers to the boy who now refuses to look up from twisting the blood pressure cuff in his hands. "Kal won't help?"

Alex sighs, moving her hands in front of her face, almost touching her eyes before she slumps back into the wall. "He wants the DEO to watch after him before anything else."

Kara furrows her brows. "But, he's blood." The boy looks up sharply.

"Kara." There's something like anticipation in Alex's voice.

"If Clark won't look after him together then I will."

"I thought you needed Clark to help." And Alex is searching, muscles tight as she waits for the answer.

"I'm the best option, kryptonian, I can help him control his powers. Like you helped me. Like you'll help him."

"Where will he sleep?"

The confident superhero slowly falls away, showing a blundering Kara. "I, um, i'll get another bed?"

"Maybe another apartment." Alex demurs softly before she looks over to the sullen boy watching them. "C'mon, we'll get Vasquez to make you an identity."

He stares at them in confusion. "Identity?"

"You'll need to appear human, and pass background checks. We'll walk you through it. What's your name?"

"Project Kr." He follows after them, missing Alex's clenched fist but catching Supergirl's twisting face.

* * *

* * *

"Andrew? Hunter? Mike? Scott? Gavin?" Kara bounces on her toes hovering in the air every few seconds, holding a baby book in her hands, flipping through it quickly at super-speed. "Montgomery? Justin? Washington? Kalvin? Connor? Jacob? Ajax? Sarab? Zander?"

Alex is making notes across from them as she flips through the chemical composition of an alien in sector D. Listening to Kara shout names at a too inhuman speed and Vasquez causally make a background for the boy, fingers clicking along the keyboard as she sets it up. A long lost cousin whose parents died in the same 'fire' Kara's did those twelve years ago. Too young to remember.

The boy speaks up for the first time, staring at the baby book over Kara's shoulder when she comes back to touch the ground between bounces. "Can it be Konnor with K and not C?"

Kara stares at him curiously and nods. "Kon-El. Konnor sounds much better with a K anyway."

He tilts his head, cautious and curious all at the same time. "Does it have to be El?"

Alex watches both of them. Kara goes soft, a little nostalgic around the edges. "It would be on Krypton, you are of El blood, I am too. But kryptonian names are based on hierarchy." She bounces on her toes again higher and higher, happy to speak of her planet. "I take my father's full name because he was of the higher house and I am the female heir. You would take the last name only, being a male heir."

The boy is staring at Kara, but he tilts his head to the side curiously. "So your father was Zor-El?'

Kara smiles softly. "Yeah."

"So I take the last name El, instead of Zor-El?"

And Kara looks happy, like she hadn't sent twenty of the last of her race back into space for eternal sleep. Like her uncle hadn't been killed in her desperation to save Earth. To save Alex. Like the weight of the things she'd done are slowly falling away. "Yeah, but here it'll be Danvers for Earth documents or another if you like?"

"I like Danvers." Konnor furrows his brow like the words sound odd on his lips.

"Okay, hopefully Eliza doesn't mind having another kid sharing her family name." Kara grins. ruffling his hair. "She'll like you." Konnor fixes his hair with a grumble, little hints of teenage annoyance already showing through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing for Supergirl fandom so thank you guys for reading. I hope you enjoyed the short chapter, more to come hopefully.
> 
> I have decided on Kalex for the pairing, I know many people are anti-kalex, but I am in love with the possibility of them. They were the first couple I 'shipped' on the show. Like I mentioned in my other story, if Iris and Barry can do it I suppose I can write Kara and Alex falling in love. Just a note, this will be mostly a plot driven story, not just a romantic plot. So expect a slow as molasses slow burn. Thank you all for reading.


	2. Safe Inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the end of Chapter 1. Konnor learns what it is to have a piece of both worlds.

The DEO tower is quiet unlike how the desert base was. There isn't the sound of new recruits in the lower levels. No screaming or pounding of the aliens detained within the walls. There's not sand clinging to boots and the floor. With the sun setting and the day dying down it is eerily quiet in a way the other place never was. Vasquez had gone to get a very late dinner with her sister, leaving with a wave to Alex and shaking Konnor's hand to the boy's confusion. Kara had left to handle a fire in the factory district and to finish her work at CatCo, leaving Alex and Konnor alone with the few agents on duty, in the quiet.

Alex looks up from her tablet data-pad and eyes the boy that is sitting in Vasquez' chair and staring at the tablet on the desk, eyeing his new identity like it had all the answers in the world. "Konnor." He looks up at her, blinking other-world blue eyes at her as if the name startled him. "It's getting late."

"Where are you taking me?" He stares at her now, still wary but curious.

"Unfortunately you'll have to stay at the DEO tonight." She stands from her own chair, saving the work she'd finished and powering off the data-pad. "At least until we find a secure apartment and make sure CADMUS hasn't discovered we have you."

That wariness is back in his eyes, muscles tense. "So i'm sleeping here?"

"Yes." Alex motions with her head. "You can sleep in the bunks if you want or in the exam room." She winces, fingers twitching across the data-pad but he doesn't flinch or grow angry like she thought he might so she pushes on. "The exam room doesn't have a completely dark setting and the bunks will usually have someone sleeping in one of the four beds."

He furrows his brow. "Where do you sleep?"

Alex's lips twitch in amusement. "I have an apartment with a bedroom, but sometimes I crash in the bunks or fall asleep in my lab."

He stiffens, losing the slight relaxed state he had taken after being here. Glaring at her. "You experiment?"

"Nothing like CADMUS." She tenses and he is staring at her, like he is looking for a lie. For a change in her exterior. Like she isn't who she said she was. "I study alien biology, if they have toxins I try to create an antitoxin. Sometimes it helps to understand their bodies for medical treatment or nutrition plans. Sometimes it helps safely capture the aggressive ones."

"I am not tired."

Alex twitches, tilts her head to the side as she watches his reactions. "You can sit with Vazquez when she gets back to finish setting everything up, follow me to my lab or wait for Kara to bring some movies or games."

His eyes are hard and he tilts his chin high. "I want to see your _lab."_   He spits it out like he expects chain and cages. Needles and blood.

She leads him over to it, quickly, his heavy feet thumping across the floors behind her. "I need to switch lights to UV in the station when that alarm over there sounds."

"Why?" There's a dangerous accusation in his voice, a tense set to his shoulders. 

"The blood sample i'm working on reacts when introduced to certain light." She switches the lights to the room on easily enough, Konnor following after her, behind her instead of beside her. "I'll filter between different lights to test it."

"Is it Kryptonian?" And he looks curious now, staring at the equipment in her lab. The room smells likes cleaning supplies and metal, similar to CADMUS's smell yet different. Konnor loosens slightly.

"No, but it has similar markers in it's DNA." Alex begins flipping switches on multiple machines, setting timers where they're needed and turning on a heat lamp for the other one in the corner.  "Markers that puts the species in the Krypton vicinity, possibly a nearby planet."

"What does it do?" The suspicion drops away and there is a familiar gleam in his eyes, a curiosity that begs to be sated, one she recognizes.

"The sun allows the species to create bursts of concentrated energy, like kyrptonian heat vision. Their cells take in the solar radiation and use it in short spurts." And her words are moving too fast, excited to be able to talk about this to someone who finds it interesting. "Their bodies aren't as invulnerable as kryptonian but it is durable. Like yours."

* * *

* * *

Kara drops by later that night after finishing some last minute edits on the magazine that will go to print in the morning. She finds Konnor asleep in one of the rickety lab chairs in the lab Alex was using, head tilted back against the wall and Alex's jacket thrown over his chest and crossed arms. His face is slack with sleep and his feet, only clothed in dark socks, are splayed out across the floor, almost sliding against the slick linoleum. Boots tucked under the chair neatly, laces untied and stuffed into the shoe. Alex is at a large machine, a coffee on the table behind her, she speaks without looking up from the machine. "He fell asleep after we discussed the structure of different species DNA."

Kara snorts walking towards Alex, sweeping her cape to the side so she can lean against one of the tables Alex's microscopes are on. "So you bored him to sleep?"

"No, he _understood_ most of what I was saying." Hazel eyes are excited but wary.

"How?" Kara stiffens, staring at the boy sleeping across from them.

"He says he remembers flashes before he woke up. My bet is that they've imprinted the information into his brain." And Alex's scientific mind is racing but her moral mind it warring against it. "I don't know how yet."

"So he knows everything?" A hint of confusion and longing.

"No." Calloused fingers press into Kara's wrist, over the slick durable sleeve of the suit. "Just basics in most areas, others he _excels_ at."

Kara is glaring at the wall, fingers twitching before she lays her other hand on Alex's resting on her wrist. "Do you think they have a imprinting machine like my pod?"

That wary gleam in Alex's eyes darkens with thought. "Maybe but how?"

Kara slumps back against the table, brow furrowed. "Pods from Krypton, they only work with kryptonian physiology." 

A dark eyebrow raises in slight amusement. "He is _part_ kryptonian."

"Yeah, but how did they get one?" Kara looks apprehensive as she speaks, fingers twitching across the back of Alex's hand as her mind races.

"Stole it or built it. They were filling his head with knowledge, making him into a weapon." Alex rubs at her eyes with her free hand, slumping back against the table. "The more I learn about CADMUS the more I don't want my dad to be alive."

Kara stares at her, eyes wide and worried as she stands tall again.  _"Alex?"_ Worried blue eyes take in the lines curling around hazel, the tremble to her lips and the thump of her heart. 

"He's been gone _ten_ years Kara, they've had him ten years. I don't want to think what they've done to him. How they've changed him." Alex shakily cards her free fingers through her hair and her breath hitches in her chest as her eyes threaten to water. "What if he's not my father anymore?"

Kara swoops in, pulling Alex into a tight hug. One tight enough to make her bones creak and pop. "We'll find Jeremiah, we'll find your dad. And whatever they did to him in there we will undo it. We'll fix it I promise."

Alex clings to her, face tucked into her neck, the cape slick against her cheek as her breath hitches. "You can't promise that Kara."

"Can too. We'll find him and we'll take CADMUS down. For Jeremiah and for Konnor. For all the people they've hurt." Kara says this with a conviction and hope that is all Kara Zor-El and Alex relaxes into her, believing it, if just for the night.

* * *

* * *

J'onn, in Hank Henshaw form, finds them in the morning. Konnor is still slumped in the chair, snoring now, arm still crossed across his chest. The jacket has slipped to just cover his midsection and legs while Alex is slumped against the wall, head pillowed on Supergirl's shoulder. The girl of steel has her cape wrapped around them both, head leaning against the woman sleeping on her shoulder. He surveys the room, two experiments are still running, the timer has a few hours left on it. There's empty Chinese containers in the trash that he knows belong to the superhero, Alex too clean in her lab to leave outside trash overnight. There's a messenger bag stuffed full hanging off one of the rolling lab chairs and shoes tucked under the chair. Alex gun rest beside her on the lower level of the table, ready for use if the need arises. The sun has just started to rise outside when he came in and he huffs. Pulling his shoulders pack he crosses his arms behind his back and stand in the doorway as he clears his throat.

The response is immediate, Alex is up and on her feet, socks slightly slipping on the floor as Supergirl lets out an indignant squawk and flails arms to stay upright as her human pillow moves. The boy is on his feet, chair skidding back across the floor as he crouches, glaring at J'onn. Alex pulls her hands behind her to rest on her lower back. "Sir."

"I see you have been productive." And he flits his eyes to the varying things around the room that aren't normally in the lab she's commandeered the second she stepped into the building. There's an amused glint in his eyes as his eyes stop on the Chinese boxes before finding Alex's gaze again.

"Three of the five experiments from last week are done. I've set up a nutritional plan for the resident of Cell 4 Sector D and finished the design for a safer way to get the resident of cell 17 his proper exercise." Her eyes flicker to the boy that is still glaring at J'onn. "Vasquez helped set up an identity for Konnor." Her lips twitch. "Konnor, this is Director Henshaw, my boss."

Konnor glares at him. J'onn just lets out a quiet snort. "Konnor, while we run feelers out for CADMUS I want you to remain _here._ It is not safe for you if CADMUS realizes you are with us. You will endanger your life as well as Agent Danvers and Supergirl's if you leave this building. You are in no danger here, but until I give permission to leave you must remain at the DEO. Is that understood?'"

"Yes." And the words are bitter, harsh and angry.

"Good. Agent Danvers, Supergirl they've opened up the cafeteria." His eyes flicker and he almost grins at them, at the barely awake annoyance rolling off the boy in waves and the sleep that bleeds from Alex's mind despite her awake appearance, they're projecting and he can't not pick it up with the way they roll off of them. "Try to stay away from the eggs."

Supergirl grins. "Awesome, Konnor if you're anything like me you'll like the cafeteria." She nudges at his elbow, leading him away. "C'mon."

"Supergirl." Alex calls, regret tinging her voice and they stop. "Konnor may not be ready for solids, we discussed his diet last night."

Kara frowns, staring at the boy, full of worry. "Oh. What does he get then?"

Alex wrinkles her nose but sighs. "Liquid diet until his stomach adjusts." She looks over to J'onn. "Sir, is Dr. Marcy here or is she still at the desert?"

"She will remain at the desert to continue the nutritional program for the residents in the DEO. There are some supplies here, but you will want to e-mail her your plans for Cell 4 and Konnor. I have to take a conference call with the President. Konnor, Supergirl, Agent Danvers, i'll see you later today." He nods at them before he leaves the room.

"Well he was chirpy this morning." Kara murmurs, confused.

"He had to deal with signing the desert over to Lucy's command and work on splitting the agents up. We can't bring everyone here but we need people. Which means bringing in new agents and vetting them." Alex slips her boots on, then straps her gun back to her thigh once she's straightened her belt. "Okay, Konnor we'll stop by the stock room and see what they have that you can eat. Unfortunately it won't taste good."

"They never taste good." He grumbles before shoving his feet in his boot and leaving them untied. He stares at Alex's jacket before shoving it into her arms with a gruff awkwardness. "It's not mine."

Alex chuckles lowly, slipping the jacket over a chair and running a hand through her hair to pull out the knots. "Yeah, lets go." She looks to the hero, who is watching them as she shifts her feet. "You gonna eat then go to work?"

Kara frowns, hooking her cape back on. "Yeah, I was hoping to have breakfast with you guys." She shoots a look to Konnor, sad and guilty. "But I don't want him to not be able to eat what I am." She ruffles her own hair until it is tamed. "I'll eat at Noonan's and go to work, but i'll bring games by tonight so we can have a Danvers night. Hopefully no aliens cause an outbreak." She kisses Alex's cheek as she pulls her in for a hug. "I'll see you tonight, unless we get called on a mission before that." She ruffles Konnor's hair, laughing as he scowls at her. "I'll see you tonight as well Konnor, try not to let Alex bore you too much." With that she's speeding away.

"Hey!" Alex yells indignantly after Kara. Alex scowls, looking down at Konnor's feet before looking back up at him as he frowns at her and tucks the laces into the side of the shoe, not tying them. She smiles at him, a soft thing normally only for Kara. "You ready to go?"

* * *

* * *

Kara is running Konnor around the DEO, showing him all the places Alex wouldn't think of. Taking him down to the pool and listening to the water lap at the sides as she talks about Krypton, Konnor's blue eyes so familiar and intrigued even if he tries to hide it while they drink the odd protein shake Alex had made for him, Kara drinking it for solidarity despite the bland taste. 

Alex finds J'onn in his new office once she's sure Kara and Konnor are busy. He looks up when she knocks on the open door. "Agent Danvers." His voice is professional with the open door and the new building.

She's in a perfect stance and speaks in a low deference tone as she greets him. "Director." She shuts the door and moves to lean back against the wall in front of his desk. "What'd you find?" Her voice shifts, changes as they are alone from prying ears. Something was happening. Alex could feel it, taste it in the air and the tense set to his shoulders the second the door had shut.

J'onn clicks something on his desk and a low buzzing noise sounds, it will disrupt any listening devices and prevent Kara or Konnor from overhearing them as well. A leftover from General Lane's men. "I watched the pod after I dropped it off in the ocean. Left it far from National City but they still came. Fished it out of the sea."

Alex tenses. "Was it CADMUS?"

"They had neural inhibitors on." And his dark eyes flash as he begins to put away the papers on his desk. "Inhibitor designs from the DEO."

Alex straightens her stance, pulling back from leaning against the wall. "You're sure?"

"I'd recognize yours and Jose's design anywhere." He shakes his head, closing his file draw with a huff. "Someone stole your blueprints."

"Shit." Alex clenches her jaw. "A mole?"

He purses his lips. "A mole or CADMUS has _hacked_ into our systems."

"Vasquez has programs against that, and we've vetted everyone." Alex crosses her arms. "I've seen their files. You've seen them all, hell Lucy has seen them all and so has the psychologist."

"I know. Whoever it is knows how to hide in plain sight." And he clenches his jaw, the person could shield their thoughts well. Could hide right under their noses. Under his. "We're doing a internal investigation to flush them out. _Quietly."_

Alex nods, this wouldn't be something to let Kara in on then. Kara who was all punch now, question later. And as much as she hated it Alex knew the mole needed to be kept between her, J'onn and whoever else he told. Possibly just Lucy and Vazquez, if he trusted them as much as he trusted her. "What do you want me doing?"

"I need eyes in Geneva. The HQ there, they sent us recruits." And they both remember the batch, half new and half partially trained, full of themselves and in awe of Supergirl. "Get in there, do what needs to be done."

She nods, already calculating and running through all the recruits she had seen days ago. "How long?"

"Set up to leave in two days, I want you there for three, or four. Your team will remain here with me, take Vazquez with you and Johnson. Be discreet and don't throw up any red flags. CADMUS doesn't seem to know we have Konnor and I want to keep it that way."

"They won't get him." Her voice is hard and they both think to the caution and suspicion that seems to emit from the boy. The anger and the pain that won't leave his eyes. "We won't let them."

"I know. None of the new recruits will be coming here, only trusted personnel around Konnor."

* * *

* * *

* * *

Konnor comes with Kara to work five days later, at her heels and still so angry at the world. "Kara." Miss Grant arches her eyebrow when she looks up and spots the human embodiment of sunshine and what looks like the embodiment of a thunderstorm behind her. He is maybe an inch or two taller than Kara but has the same bright blue eyes, and the same crinkle between his brows.

"This is Konnor, my cousin." Kara grins softly, missing the way his brows furrow even more behind her at the easy admission. "I need to update my insurance forms to include Konnor." She moves her glasses, pushing them up her nose as she hands Cat the forms Vasquez had dolled up for both the government and to give to Cat. A way to ease Konnor into life much like the Kents had done for Kal. Much like the resident forms and death certificates Kal's friend made for her sudden appearance on Earth and her imminent stay with the Danvers so long ago. "And update my address in a few days."

Miss Grant hums, tapping the pen against her lips before jabbing it at the papers she had just read through. "That will be easy with these then." She motions to Konnor. "Is he staying long?"

Kara furrows her brow but squares her shoulders. _"Yes,_ as long as he want to."

Cat sighs, rolling her eyes as she marks the papers accordingly before sliding them to the edge of her desk. "I meant at the office Kara."

"Oh." Kara touches the sides of her glasses again, shifting her feet. "Yes? Just for today or tomorrow, until we get settled. Alex has an." She pauses, tilting her head to the side before she trudges on, grimacing. "Out of state job today and couldn't be with him."

"You know where the forms are." Cat vaguely waves her hands to the tablet at the corner of her desk near the papers. "Add in these papers and then take them back. You know how much I hate cluttering paper.

Kara flits over to it, grabbing the tablet and the papers before sitting on the couch in a fluidity of motions that she manages to make look graceful as well as clumsy. Konnor stands behind her, scowling at the white couch and then the woman that is staring at him behind green rimmed glasses. He glares back at her before looking around the office. His face is still stuck in a frown when he spots the screens behind the woman. They are full of images, each one different and he stares at them in awe, taking in the sheer amount of information. Things he had never seen before, so much like the images and information they forced upon him yet so different. "How old are you?" Cat is staring down at him, eyes slit with curiosity.

Konnor tilts his head, narrowing his eyes at her. "Fifteen."

She eyes him, taking in the dark hair, the blue eyes and the strong chin. His nose is sharp, sharper than Kara's. "Tall for fifteen."

Kara grins as she looks up from fixing her forms on the tablet in her hands. "Runs in the family." Konnor scowls even more. "Anyway, I thought he could shadow me today instead of just sitting in my office, see what we do around here."

"Yes yes, the child can follow you around." She waves her hand like it isn't a big deal. "Maybe you can talk sense into the new assistant, he brought me a chai latte today." Kara snorts and Konnor looks between them, confused. "And find computer boy, mine has been on the fritz today."

* * *

Once they finish the forms Kara leads Konnor down to her office, opening the door and leading him into the room. "So, no touching the phone. I already break enough to make the tech guys nervous and we haven't figured your strength out yet. I know Alex wanted to keep you at the DEO until we actually got an apartment for all of us and moved the stuff in, but I know how cramped that can be, especially when you've been given the go ahead to leave with one of us."

He shifts his feet, scowling as he crosses his arms. "Will she be mad?"

"Worried."

He scoffs. "That i'll expose us?"

"No." Her eyes go soft and she touches his shoulder gently, leading him out of her office. "That it'll be too much. The first time I heard the popcorn machine I hid under the table and cried." She winces. "Well I howled."

He pauses, clenching his jaw before he sighs, looking out the windows of the hallway they were in. "I've never seen the sky until I escaped."

She looks out the window, eyes pained around the edges. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

He blinks slowly, taking it in like he took in the screens of Cat's office. "Blue."

She smiles at her softly. "Yeah."  The phone rings in her pocket, transferred from her desk phone in the windowless room he had been too tense in, she looks down at it quickly before nodding to herself. "I've got a temp position right now, until I decide what I want to do, so we have some things to do today."

He looks up sharply, grinding his teeth. "Where are you going?"

 _"We're_ going to Photo, I get to review them first and then layouts." She bounces on her toes as she walks to the photo and print lab. "Then I'll write an office report on them to turn into the head of the section."

"Why?"

Kara shrugs. "I was Miss Grants assistant, almost three years, but I moved up. Now I gotta find what I like until I find a permanent assistant for her." She winces. "Or one that lasts longer than two weeks."

His eyebrows arch and his nose crinkles. "Writing reports?"

"What?" She narrows her eyes at him, daring him to continue.

He snorts, still tense but he plows on with the tact of a teenager. "They sound boring."

She rolls her eyes, shoving his shoulder. He stumbles a bit under it, turning to scowl at her. "Yeah, but you never know until you try." He grunts but follows her down to the print lab, feet slapping against the stair until they come to a thick door. "James?" the man in question looks up from where he is moving pictures around.

"Kara." He smiles widely at her before it falls. "Is this?"

She's smiling widely again, beaming as she squeezes Konnor's shoulder. He glares at the look James is giving him "This is Konnor, my cousin."

James winces, placing the three photos he was ordering down. "Clark mentioned him." 

Kara narrows her eyes. "What about him?" Her voice gets a steely edge that makes the two others in the room tense.

James shrugs, moving back to his work, shoulders tight but attempting to loosen. "Just what Lex Luthor did."

"Konnor's not just what they  _made_ him." And she's gripping the door knob enough to make it creak. "He's a teenage boy, don't act like he doesn't exist. Don't listen to _Clark."_

"Kara, he's not, it's just." He sighs, staring at her like she should understand, running a hand over his head. "Clark is just lost right now. He and Lois have a good thing going right now."

Kara furrows her eyes at the words that fall from James mouth, so much like her own she feels a seed of anger at herself. "Konnor comes first, he's just a kid, and he is standing here listening to you say hes not." Kara grits her teeth, releasing the door and shaking her head at James. "Let's go Kon, see if Miss Grant needs some assistance."

"Kara!" James begs after them, eyes confused. "Please."

She turns around at that, giving James a glare that freezes him in his tracks. "No, you listened to Clark before you even met Konnor." She leads him to a secluded area, away form prying ears and eyes. Konnor's hands are clenched by his side. Kara gently touches his left hand. "It's okay to be mad and confused."

"What do you know!?" He shouts, explosive and so angry yet sad.

She eyes him sadly, full of understanding and grief. "I shouldn't have brought you out today."

"Why, because all they see is a clone?" His voice shakes with anger, eyes glinting with fire but there's anguish under there, hidden away. "Don't want them to judge you?"

Kara smooths over his fist, soft and understanding. "No, because I forgot what it was like to be the spotlight. I was twelve when I came to live with Alex."

"So?" He breath the word out like a curse, so angry.

Kara laughs softly, squeezing his fingers as they relax out of his fist. "So, she hated me."

His shoulder relax but he still glares at her. "You're saying he won't hate me later?"

"He doesn't hate you now. He's Clark. Truth Justice and the American way." Kara grins wryly before she sighs softly. "Humans aren't too keen on cloning."

"Alex is fine with it." He speaks like he knows Alex, like he trusts her already after five days of being around her and Kara's lips twitch into a soft smile.

"Alex is a bio-engineer with two degrees and a doctorate. She deals with aliens on a daily basis. Clark." Kara let out a huff of air, she wants to forgive him, but the way he looked at Konnor. The way Alex spoke of him. It brought too much that was hidden, out. "He tries to be human _so_ hard, he grew up thinking he was human." Konnor just scowls. Kara touches his shoulder gently. "We'll go to the zoo on the Friday i'm off."

"Why?" And he looks suspicious again.

"Have you ever seen a penguin? Or a lion?"

Blue eyes are narrowed still but his shoulders aren't as tense. "Not in real life." 

Kara smile, wide and bright. "It'll change your world. A better trip than the one today." 

* * *

* * *

 They head back to the DEO tower, on the computer is a tech guy Kara had never really paid attention to. The one that was always one step behind Vazquez. "Do you know where Agent Danvers is?" She could listen to her heartbeat if she needed to, could zero in on it but it is too loud right now. Too many foreign noises. There's the sound of a forklift moving a floor below them. Beeping from the training room and shouts. There's the crackling of a broken radio and guns in the lower levels going off periodically, training. The splash of the water colliding with the walls during a pool training seminar. Too many noises.

The man looks up sharply, taking in her Supergirl suit and Konnor's scowl. "Lab three."

"Thank you." The man just grunts, going back to running his scans on the systems. Both kryptonians walk down to a larger lab than the lab they were in that first night. There they find Alex in full tactical gear. "Alex?" 

"Ka-" Alex stops herself, thinks of the possible mole. "Supergirl, Konnor." She grins at them, eyes tired but happy. "Hey."

Kara slips to fiddle with a piece of paper on one of the tables, eyeing everything in the room. "What're you doing?"

"They're moving my lab here now." She peeling off each section of the gear with deft fingers. The knife first, then the spray to disable the aliens biologically similar to humans. Then the stunning pellets. "Director Henshaw transferred my entire team here permanently." And there a worried crinkle to her eyes that Kara can only spot from almost thirteen years of knowing Alex.

"Why?"

"We'll be investigating CADMUS." And then her eyes are blazing, like a fires been lit in her as Konnor tenses with the mention of the group. "We'll be the go to teams for National City alien problems. Lucy will be Director of the desert DEO like he planned."

"What about Vasquez?" Kara twitches at the change, at the people whose names she'd yet to figure out. At the new environment she had no say in going to. Alex looks sympathetic. Understanding as Kara fiddles with the paper. "Who's the guy out there?"

"Vasquez had to go back to the desert. She did most of the programming there, Junel is the tech guy here." Alex winces, unbuckling another strap. "Not as good as Vasquez."

"What about the aliens?" And Kara's fingers are twisting in her cape again, crinkle between her eyes. "What about me?"

"You'll be going to both, Lucy will be at the desert to watch your back when you're there." And Alex's lips wrinkle at that. The thought of not being there for Kara. Of someone getting to her when Alex can't protect her. "They'll still house the alien's and most of the kryptonite. We needed a base that couldn't be tied explicitly to the alien containment and we need to be closer to National city. J'onn has a feeling about CADMUS and I can't help but feel the same."

Konnor is poking at the cuffs Alex had set on the table, curious and cautious as ever while he listens to them. Alex and Kara both keep an eye on him, and there's that wrinkle at the corner of Alex's lips, almost impervious but Kara is Kara and she looks over Alex for any other signs of distress. "Did you find anything today?"

"Nothing, we flew out to Geneva for three days to check in with that section." And Kara is tense, just the mention of Geneva sets the blonde on edge. Too many memories of Alex's close call. "They've heard nothing. No alien sightings except for the normal amount. The higher ups want one in Metropolis to combat alien flow to larger cities but Superman won't allow it." All three in the room tense and Alex rubs at her hair, pulling off her vest next. "We had a K'hund get out of containment when my team got back to HQ, I helped put it back and Vasquez had to update the locking systems."

Kara steps forward, worried. Konnor looks up from his inspection, curious as he watches them. "What happened?"

"One of the new trainees managed to put in the wrong code, his CO was getting a fucking coffee." And her jaw is tight, hard enough that Kara can hear her teeth grinding. The blonde reaches forward without thought, smoothing finger that could warps steel over a grinding jaw, calming the anger there. "They're both on desk duty." And all Alex can think about is the possibility of what the mole sequestered away in the chaos.

Kara, worried, x-rays Alex to find any injuries that weren't there when Alex left three days ago. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No." Alex strips one of the holster on her thigh next as Kara's fingers drop from her now relaxed jaw. "I had Vasquez check out places today, she sent me an e-mail and times to go look at apartments. I can catch a shower and we can look at the last two today."

Konnor drops his gaze from watching them when Kara turns around and grins at him. "Konnor grab your jacket so we can head out!"

"I'm not cold." He grunts out.

Kara huffs and looks at the tight shirt he wears, all DEO black and practical. "We need to go shopping after we find a place. You need clothes."

He looks down at his shirt, brow furrowed. "Alex wears this."

Kara pouts. "Alex is a DEO agent. Its her uniform."

* * *

* * *

* * *

"I like the balcony." Konnor murmurs quietly a day later. Having a kryptonian and a half kryptonian helped make moving quicker and easier and it took way less time than it would have with three humans. Boxes litter the entirety of the apartment in a maze of cardboard boxes and sloppy writing.

Kara grins, dropping one of the last boxes against the other boxes in the living room, or sun-room as Alex had dubbed it. "Good. It's perfect for us then." She nudges his shoulder with her own. "We can fly in from it."

He scowls at her, an expression they had all become familiar with. So far Kara had a list of the types of frowns. This was his angry hating on CADMUS scowl. "I can't fly."

"That we know of _yet."_ She bumps into his shoulder again. "You'll fly or you won't, we'll figure it out when we get there."

Alex comes in the front door, kicking it shut with a grunt. "Okay that was _definitely_ the last box." She drops her computer bag on the table and the small box in her hands onto one of the chairs. Alex makes a face at said chair. "I forgot how much our furniture clashed."

Kara rolls her eyes, walking over to Alex to press that disgruntled wrinkle away from her face. "We can't buy new furniture when we have perfectly fine ones here. Plus it's extra money for Konnor."

"The DEO is paying for two thirds of this apartment Kara, that's not even from what I get paid." She arches an eyebrow at the blonde, tilting her head back away from teasing fingers. "We'll be fine. How do you think I managed to feed you all the time?"

Kara furrows her brow, and she gnaws at her lip. "Oh, okay, but I like my couch. And my pillows." She picks up on of the pillows, fingers tangling into the strings. Konnor is gently pulling the curtains away from the large windows that open up to the balcony, wary of his strength, as he listens to them.

"And you can keep them." Alex folds and throws her leather jacket over the chair. "But we need to finish getting groceries and stuff for the apartment. You two could eat the entire kitchen."

"We can shop for Konnor tonight too." Kara tosses the dark black DEO issued jacket at the boy and then throws Alex's recently folded leather jacket at her head. "We'll get something other than DEO on him." He just grunts as Alex's lets out a indignant noise under her jacket and then Kara's phone rings, shrill and loud. Her lips twist into a pout as she answer it, listening before agreeing and hanging up. "There's a CatCo emergency." And her eyes are full of warring emotions, guilt and sadness.

Alex slips her jacket back on, grabbing the car keys instead of the motorcycle keys. "I'll take Konnor, you can get the next two take out nights."

Kara stares at Konnor, soft eyes and guilt-ridden. "I'm sorry Konnor."

He frowns at her, not a scowl but a confused twist of his lips. "It is fine."

* * *

 

Hours later the kryptonian comes home, spotting the car in the parking garage with her x-ray vision, parked by their motorcycles. "Alex." Kara whines as she walks into the apartment that night and looks around the place, pushing the door shut. Alex hums, focused on her paperwork, hair pulled back from her forehead. "You know what you did."

"What?" Her voice is lilting in confusion but she continues gnawing on her bottom lip as the paperwork in front of her keeps her attention.

"Leather and _black._ Where's the color?" Kara flits about Konnor's clothing, it had been piled on the couch and the previously taken spot where they brought in the boxes from the moving truck. 

Alex huffs in amusement, twirling her pen in her fingers as she tries to figure out this stupid sequence. "He picked it out."

"That because you went with him." Kara stares at the _three_ leather jackets on the couch that are definitely too big and smell too new to be Alex's. "I'm taking him tomorrow."

Alex looks up briefly from her work. "What?"

"He needs some color, like blue, yellow or green. Maybe pink."

Alex rolls her eyes, grinning up at Kara. "Just let him pick it out."

"I don't like yellow." Konnor mumbles across the room, where he's watching a cartoon, boots stuffed under the chair and hands twisting in silly-putty substance Alex had thrust into his hand when he began tapping his fingers on the wood. "This is pointless."

"Shopping?" Kara confusion.

"No, this show." He waves his hand around in the air, in what could be the direction of the TV. "It is not knowledgeable. It has no purpose." It was nothing like what they showed him while he was in stasis at CADMUS.

"It soft hearted and it makes you laugh." There's something in her voice, soft and delicate.

Konnor looks at her in confusion, staring at the emotions he can't decipher in her eyes and the twist of her fingers. "Why would you watch something to make you laugh?"

"It like having a thirteen year old Kara all over again." Alex coughs out a laugh before shooting Konnor a pitying look, twirling her pen quicker than before. "Kara is going to give you a movie marathon."

"Lilo and Stitch first, you'll like that one." And blue eyes are nostalgic again, soft with grief and love. Memories.

"You cry when you watch it." Alex murmurs teasingly, pulling that trembling edge of emotions easily away from Kara as she goes back to working on paperwork.

Blue eyes spark in challenge and something of a soft love. "So do you."

* * *

 

He ends up breaking the door knob later that night when he grips it too hard. The doorknob to their _just_ leased apartment crumbles in his hand like paper, hitting the ground with a clink as he stares down at his too strong hand. "Don't worry, Kara went through four walls when she sneezed once." Alex murmurs as she cooks in the kitchen, Kara hovering over her shoulder. 

Konnor looks down at the twisted knob and then to the calmness of the other two in the apartment. His shoulders relax slowly, and he darts his eyes to them. "Four?"

"Yeah, completely demolished the dining room." Alex smiles, chuckling slightly. It makes her eyes brighten like there was more there. Konnor's lips twitch into an almost smile.

He slowly makes his way over to them, hair wet from his shower. "What are you making?"

"Pasta, I've spoken with Dr. Marcy, with your metabolism and the way they were feeding you before we decided pasta would be the best to try first."

And his nose twitches as he smells it. It smells like nothing from CADMUS, there's the hiss of water boiling and the hum of the stove and he filters through it like Kara had showed him, focusing on their heartbeats. Alex's slow, always-steady and tapping like a beat against his ears. Kara's slower and with a deep resounding beat to it. Familiar and both so unlike his own. "Smells." He sniffs again. "Different."

Kara grins, bumping her hip into Alex's, enough to cause the other woman to let out something between a squawk and a huff. "You'll like it, this is the one thing Alex can make without burning."

Alex scowls, throwing a limp piece of pasta at the superhero. Kara catches it in her mouth, grinning wide as she munches on it noisily. "I can cook a small variety of things. Pasta was easier and you get more for what you pay." She pokes Kara in the chest with the spoon. "You kryptonians tend to eat. A lot."

Konnor grunts, staring at the utensil in confusion, Alex arches her eyebrow. "You wanna try?" She holds up a spoon.

He shakes his head stepping back, teeth clenching and unclenching. "No." And his voice is gruff again, angry about something. Kara stares at him, finds the twist to his lips and the clench of his jaw. She recognizes that look, had it on her own face so many times when she'd first came to Earth.

Kara grin. "I once ate a box of noodles before." Konnor stares at her, shrugging in confusion.

Alex snorts, stirring the pasta again as it boils. "You forgot the part where they weren't cooked."

Kara laughs, loud and happy. "They were crunchy." Konnor looks between them, the amusement and memories dancing in their eyes. The lack of judgment despite his burst of anger.

Alex gets that look in her eye, the one as she spoke of the walls. The soft, loving yet amused gleam to hazel. "About three weeks after she landed and was on full blown Earth food she _demolished_ the pantry, tore the shelves off the wall."

Kara pouts, huffing quietly. "I was hungry, and your parents hadn't figured out how much I actually ate."

"So instead of telling us at dinner she was still hungry she snuck into the pantry." Alex laughs softly and Konnor's lips twitch at their happiness, something blooms in his chest and he frown, shaking his head to continue listening. "Ate _everything,_ including the bag of sugar."

Kara whips Alex's thigh with a hand towel, shaking her head in embarrassed happiness. "I thought it was like the gruel from Krypton."

"So my parents wake up and think a raccoon had gotten into the house until we find a bloated alien floating in the garage moaning about stomach aches." And Alex's hands are waving wide despite holding onto the spoon, water is splashing the floor and a few pasta pieces hit the ground.

Kara laughs and Konnor's lips twitch. "Your dad laughed _so_ hard."

Alex rolls her eyes, turning back to the stove with a wry grin. "Dad thought it was funny and my mom yelled at me for not keeping a better eye on you."

Kara snorts. "You were asleep."

Konnor stares at them, aching deep in his chest. "Will I meet them?" And he is so hesitant, so lost. Still every bit of gruff anger as he was that first night but also a lost boy who hasn't ever had a home.

Alex swallows. "My mom, you'll meet her sometime soon." Alex's hand trembles and Kara grabs it, squeezing it tightly. "My dad is. He died ten years ago." And she closes her eyes, Konnor stares at her, the hitch in her breath and the flush to her cheeks. It's the most he's seen her react in the week since they found him. "But um, we thought that CADMUS might have him. Once. Harper had information on a Dr. Danvers, that he might be alive."

"CADMUS has him?" And Konnor is stiff all of a sudden. "Your dad works for CADMUS?"

Alex stiffens and Kara looks between them. "No, Konnor, no her dad was _taken_ by CADMUS. We." She swallows. "We hope he's not willingly working for them."

"I hate them!" And he throws the bowl from the counter in an explosion of anger. "I _hate_ CADMUS!" He is heaving. Kara steps forward, grabbing his wrists to pull his hands down gently, not using her strength but gentle understanding eyes and soft hands.

"I know Konnor, you have every right to hate them." His blue eyes are twisted with fear, rage and helplessness. She aches for the lost boy hidden by what CADMUS twisted him to. "But you need to channel your anger. We, as aliens, we have a strength that could hurt someone really bad if we don't control it."

"So don't get angry!?" He rips his hands from her, screaming. Glaring at them both, at their steady heartbeats that haven't changed since he started throwing things. They don't stutter like the doctor's at CADMUS had when he'd broken out of the tank in a fit of rage.

"No, Konnor, i'm not saying that." Kara aches to reach for him, and Alex is watching them quietly from the kitchen, letting them work it out. "You have every,  _every_ right to be angry, but you have to channel the anger."

He scowls at her, the pained one where it seems like he is trying not to cry before he stomps away from her, the lights shaking with his rage. "I'm not even a _real_ alien."

Kara laughs softly, confused and utterly pained and Alex turns off the stove, setting aside the finished dinner as she listens to them. "You're every bit of alien that I am Konnor."

"No i'm not." And that scowl is back, the one where he's trying to be all anger and not anguish. "I'm a _clone._ I'm a half-breed. An abomination."

Kara super-speeds over to him, stopping just in front of him to meet his trembling gaze and Alex grips the counter with white-knuckles, staring at him. "Who told you that?" There's a burning rage in Alex's voice and Konnor looks up to stare at her.

His fists are clenching and unclenching. "CADMUS." He scowls at the floor next. "Superman. I heard him. On the phone with someone."

Kara grits her teeth, hands trembling before she lets out a breath. "C'mere Kon-El." And he stiffens, stops breathing and won't look up at her. So she tries again, this time she speaks her native tongue. " _Come Kon-El."_

He looks up, wide eyed, curious and hopeful. "What? What is that?"

"The language of Krypton." And she can see what he would look like there, with dark robes pressed against his shoulders and red on his chest. "I can teach you."

 _"Why?"_ The word chokes out like he thinks she'll turn him away, toss him to CADMUS if he does anything wrong. She remembers feeling that way, like the world was out to get you if you did one thing wrong.

"It is your heritage. As a Kryptonian." She ache for an old home. A previous home. For her mother's calm and her father's understanding. Her aunt's beaming pride and Non's amused smirk. Of Krypton's red sky and Rao. She thinks of those she sent away in stasis and her uncle's burnt eyes. She trembles and sees Krypton in Konnor. "As one of the _last_ Kryptonians alive." 

"Does Superman." And he's the hesitant boy underneath all that anger again. "Does he know it?"

"He speaks it very badly and he doesn't like to use it." She steps closer, holding open her arms and she wraps them around him slowly, giving him time to reject the hug if he wants. He is stiff, won't lean into her, fists clenched at his side. "You are not an abomination. You are _not_ what CADMUS made you. You are Kryptonian and you will be treated as such. There is nothing wrong with you." And he goes limp in her hold, for the first time in a week he accepts a show of affection without being angry. His fingers twitch and he doesn't raise them to curl around her but his head is hidden by her hair and he is not stiff as a board. Kara look over to Alex, who is still gripping the counter with white knuckles and tense shoulders. Anger evident on her face, Kara seeks something from the human. What it is even Kara doesn't know as she holds this broken boy in her arms.

Alex gives it, loosening her muscles and releasing her death grip on the counter, slowly and with a very small smile to the blonde she says. _"You're doing fine."_ And it is in Kara's native tongue, thick in the way only Alex can speak it, far better than Kal's butchering of the language and _exactly_ what Kara needs to hear right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First few chapters will be setting everything up and all that jazz, still working on finishing the plot and driving force of this story. Too many ideas for it that need to be connected and woven together. Thank you guys for reading.


	3. If Only

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Konnor learns a difficult lesson and continues to grow into his new family. Kara and Alex face a reality they've been shoving under the rug. A character from season two makes an appearance.

"Do you know how weird it is?" Alex looks up curiously from drying the dishes at Kara's question. "We have actual bedrooms now." 

Alex snorts, shaking her head as she sets a plate back in the cabinet. "Having a teenager means _walls._ Teenagers like their privacy." Alex smirks as she takes another sopping wet plate from Kara. "If you remember that."

Kara snorts, pulling the plug to drain the sink. She could super-speed through this, but she likes doing them with Alex at night, in the quiet, with water on her hand and silences around them. Konnor had gone to his room to sleep in his new bed, shoulders slumped with exhaustion and brow furrowed in thought. "I know. It's just, we haven't had walls separating everything since Midvale." They had been free once they left Midvale, no secrets, well none that hadn't come to light. No hidden rooms. So much like Krypton's family units. Kara shifts her feet, sighing. "I don't know if I can sleep tonight."

Alex dries her hands, hazel eyes soft and understanding. "New place." 

They both remember Kara's first night at the Danvers' house and Kara's shoulders slump. "Yeah."

Alex throws the towel at Kara's face, her glasses rest atop her head, tangled in her thick blonde hair. "Your room or mine Space Cadet?" And warmth blooms throughout Kara's chest at Alex's almost grin and soft eyes, at her even softer words.

"Mine." Kara pulls the towel off her head, careful to leave her glasses in her hair, wringing the towel in her hands. "So I can get used to it?"

"Yeah." Alex squeezes Kara's bicep tightly, lips twitching into a soft smile finally. "Let me get another blanket, keep an ear out if Konnor needs us too."

Kara smiles, soft around the edges and teeth hidden away. Just an Alex smile, not the beaming one everyone gets. "Yeah." 

* * *

 

Kara jerks sometime in the middle of the night, kneeing Alex in the thigh and Alex twitches awake at the throbbing in her leg. With a tired sigh Alex moves to the door at Kara's slumbering mumbles that could be a sentence, but is mostly a mix of words, both in English and Kryptonian about checking on Konnor. Alex finds Konnor slumped against the doorway, listening to their breathing, arms tucked around himself and knees pressed into his chest. Alex huffs quietly. She pokes him in the shoulder gently and he rolls tired blue eyes open. She pulls at his elbow until he is standing, heavy and tired as she herds him into Kara's room. She gently guides him onto the queen size bed Kara is curled up on, fingers pressed under her chin as she slumbers in the middle of the large bed, blankets tangled around her legs.

Alex slumps back down on Kara's other side, wrapped up in her own blanket as Konnor splays out, legs hanging off the side and arms buried under his pillow, Kara's elbow pressing into his ribs, he grunts and shuffles the throw blanket over his back. It's the first night for all of them in a new place and he seeks comfort where he normally wouldn't, still raw from his outburst earlier. They give it to him easily, Kara's soft puffs of air hitting his shoulder and Alex's steady heartbeat pounding in his ears.

* * *

* * *

Alex takes him to the DEO to train the next morning, after shoving waffles in front of the two hungry Kryptonians and hurrying out the door as the sun rises. "Your powers, when you get most of them, they won't be as debilitating as Kara's are, but I do have glasses if you need them later on." They're in a new 'Green Room', Alura's Ai placed on sleep mode so as not to disturb them, the kryptonite is turned off and the training dummies set up to test Konnor's strength.

He scowls, hair still wet from his shower that morning he had after breakfast, his arms crossed. "I don't have x-ray." His scowl is back with a vengeance.

"No, at least not yet, but you have super hearing." Alex twirls the glasses on her finger, hip cocked to the side. "You'll be getting the kryptonian sight soon as well."

His eyes narrow like they did last night, jaw tight. "Not as good as _Superman's."_  

"Because you aren't _just_ Kryptonian." And she steps close to him, eyes soft, fingers twitching to reach for him. "Even if your every-bit of Kryptonian as Kara is, you're every bit of human as I am. We'll find a medium that works for you, glasses or no?"

He shrugs. "I guess it'll help me blend in, like Kara." Superman's name is left unsaid, hanging heavy between them.

Alex snorts, shaking her head, moving to dispel the situation. "I don't know how they haven't figured out their secret identities yet."

His lips twitch so it's something, before they settle back into a thin line. "Will I fight with Kara?" And he is still stonic but there's an excitement under there, flooding through his veins.

Alex's eyes flash and she shakes her head, her fingers tighten on the glasses, but they are made to withstand Kryptonian hands. They do not break under her fingers. "CADMUS is going to be after you. We're not going to risk it. We're risking it enough by letting you live outside the DEO." She squeezes his shoulder, lips twitching wryly as she settles her anger. Her fear. "And you're _fifteen,_ legally we cannot use you to fight crimes. But you're also part alien." She grins at him, reminding him of the conversation last night. "You'll have to deal with duel customs of Kryptonian and human if you _want_ to learn, but Kara and I are your guardians so you have to run things by us. We'll train you before you even think about helping though. There's too many people out there that would like to find Supergirl's soft spots." And her eyes are hard again, harder than he had ever seen them.

* * *

* * *

 

Hank is settled in his new office after a talk with Konnor when Alex sits down in front of him, the door sliding shut. He hits the switch that makes the room buzz and threads his fingers together with a sigh. "I spoke to Konnor."

She leans forward, Konnor had stormed past her, almost a blur when she was heading towards the room. She had longed to follow after him, but J'onn requested her presence immediately. "What happened?"

"I skimmed his mind." At her narrowed eyes his own almost roll, an entirely human mannerism he tried valiantly to not do. _"With_ his permission, he doesn't remember much but it was definitely CADMUS that had him."

Alex tenses, itching to go after the boy even more now. To settle the anger that rolls off of him like it could Kara. "Is he okay?"

He motions to the mess on the other side of the room, wood fractured like it had been through a storm. "He broke the table and screamed at me for shifting through his memories once we got to his escape." He rubs at his head, a headache already in place from digging through the memories. "It was blurry, he was drugged with something. His memories aren't coherent and he lashed out with fear when I brought those memories to the surface."

Alex tenses, leaning forward. "Where is he now? He ran past me."

J'onn tilts his head, eyes glowing before returning to the dark brown of Hank Henshaw. "He's in the Green Room, smashing the training dummies we set up for Supergirl. " He looks at her with something like sympathy. "He'll need the stability you and Kara offer him, he fears CADMUS and I don't blame him."

"We'll be there for him, we always will. Was there," She hesitates, clenching her jaw. "Was there anything on my father?"

Hank lets out a sigh, face twisted in remorse as his deep voice rumbles in his chest. "No, nothing. I didn't get a location for the base he was at, but they have more aliens than just him there." They both tense at that. "He heard noises as he was escaping. I believe CADMUS may be experimenting on them as well."

Alex sits up straight, barely keeping her rage off her face. "Do you think the mole has the registry? That they're getting aliens from it?"

"No, i'm the only one who has access to it." His eyes are more tired than she had seen them in the almost three years she's been there. "But we do have the issue with the President coming."

Alex stiffens, chin tilting up, confused and curious. "What is she planning?"

She can see the emotions rolling in his dark eyes, the tense set to his shoulder and the way even his alien biology can't hide the tired crinkle to his lips. "Enacting Alien Amnesty Act, a bill that will give aliens the same rights as American citizens." And there's something like respect in his eyes now, something like fear too.

Alex is quiet for a few seconds, thinking on that. J'onn lets her mull over it, they both know what the Amnesty Act would entail, knew the dangers the President would face for her opinion. Alex lets out a frustrated puff of air. "People can't even accept immigrants or refugees from their own Earth, what makes her think they'll accept refugees and immigrants from another planet?"

"I don't know," He rubs at the bridge of his nose again before dragging his fingers over his brows, rubbing away the pain settling there. "But she has hope that this will help."

Alex regards him without judgment, curious and waiting. "And you?"

"It will open a can of worms that will not be contained." His chest aches at the hate he had received as a man of color on this Earth, every bit as spiteful as if he were wearing his green skin. Humanity is driven by their fears and beliefs and the President has far more hope for them than he does. There as some, some that would greet them with open arms, ones that he would accept just as gladly, but there will always be General Lane's and Lex Luthor's in the populations. "Humans will not accept aliens into their home, you've seen how they reacted to Superman and Supergirl. Some love them and others do not." He rubs his hand over his face again. "And it brings into question the DEO, we are containing aliens without trial."

Alex slumps back rubbing at her temples. "So we'll be investigated."

"HQ in the desert will be due to their containment of aliens, as well as many others throughout the world." He lets out a short puff of air. "The prisoners get the nutrients and meals specific to their diet, exercise and stimulation. They are treated far better than most humans in prison."

"But they're still prisoners. We captured them and locked them up without giving them a trial. And she'll want to change that." And Alex looks conflicted at that, Kara was an alien like they were, but Kara was her everything. Kara was trying to fit in and the others. They weren't all bad, but some, Rao, some she never wanted them to be free again. Some of them had killed innocents. Some had killed her agents. Some of them only wanted the destruction and chaos that came from being free after living in imprisonment for _years. A_ nd if they walked, if they got a fair trial like all the bad humans and were freed like many of the humans were, where did that leave them? Where did they draw the line on letting a murderer walk free? And her shoulders slump, where did she get off deciding who was good and bad. Deciding who got freedom and who got imprisonment. Her shoulders are still slightly drooped from their usual stiffened wide set. "What are your thoughts?"

"Some of them deserve a trial and rehabilitation, others." He shudders and they both think of Jedd, now dead but still a dangerous warning. To the white martian he always watched. The one who still refused to give it's name to a green, sneering all the while, even as it eats it's meals and bounds around the exercise room, constantly watched by agents with neural inhibitors and surrounded by fire, never transported from one room to the other unless it is unconscious. They're always wary of an escape attempt. "Others will not stop if they are released, i'm having Director Lane put together files on them, what they were charged with to land them in Fort Rozz as well as what they did on Earth, their history in detainment. Helen is printing out their daily nutrient and exercise plans to show the President and her lawyers, should they try to instigate release if they believe the living conditions are not up to standard. Lucy will need contingency plans for those that are a danger."

Alex huffs but nods, easing. They weren't deciding who was good or bad, they were making lists, she could deal with this. With giving them a chance to prove they could do what Kara had done, to turn a leaf around. Some of them at least. "Good thing Lucy's a lawyer." Alex huffs out, tilting her head forward.

His lips twitch but he remains as stonic as ever. "Vasquez is working on flushing out the mole while that happens. CADMUS will be too happy to learn that some may be released. They'll go after them first."

"They'll try to show the world how dangerous aliens are." Alex stiffens, if this happens CADMUS will get word of it and use it to force their agenda. "Those aliens that were with Konnor, who knows what they've had done to them. You know what torture can cause someone to become."

J'onn sighs, nodding in agreement. Konnor's mind had been a mess of a drug induced haze, terror and a need to escape. And so much anger. If a boy who had only been there nine months, without the torture, what would another that had been tortured be like? Just as angry and terror-filled as Konnor? Just as confused, if not more dangerous. "And if that being doesn't understand why its going through all its pain it will be even more volatile." He rubs at the bridge of his nose, letting out a heavy sigh. He knew all to well what being trapped was like, being held in a camp of death and destruction wondering when the next pain would come or if he would reach oblivion first. "Go home Agent Danvers, give Konnor a sense of normalcy, we'll figure this out will fresh eyes and clear heads." Her fingers stretch out to squeeze his forearm, and he looks up at her with tired eyes. She squeezes again before making her way out of the room, he turns off the disruptor and the buzzing hum stops. His fingers shake and he runs them over the short hair on his head, a nervous habit he had picked up since retaining hair in Hank Henshaw form.

* * *

* * *

The first game night with Konnor is on a Sunday, two days later, at their new apartment. Lucy easily barrels in through the door after knocking sharply, three times in quick succession, looking at Konnor as he closes the door behind her, not crumpling the knob like he had done to most of the others. Lucy grins at him, motioning to the dark long sleeved shirt, tight against his broad shoulders that seem to hunch under her eyes. "Glad to see you take after Alex. I don't think the world could handle another pastel kryptonian."

He scowls at her, his eyes darting down to the bright, very pastel blue socks he wears, halfway hidden under his dark jeans. "I like the blue." And his voice is a low rumble, she barely catches the almost petulant look.

Her eyes track down to the socks and she grins at him, shaking her head. "Must run in the family then."

She drops her jacket on the hook and shoves her boots off. He stares at the gun on her hip, a sleek black and stocky.  "Who're you?"

Lucy snorts. "Lucy Lane."

He narrows his eyes at her. "You work at the other DEO."

"I'm the director of it, yes. One of the reason I haven't met you yet." She stares at him, taking in the blue eyes and the jawline. He grunts at her, before shifting his feet. He hears the clamber of people coming to the door and he makes a break for his room, scowl firmly in place. Lucy quirks her eyebrow before she hears what could only be Jame's heavy footsteps and Winn's chattering.

Winn opens the door without knocking, messenger bag slung over his shoulder and grin on his face as he walks right through the door and past Lucy. James is behind him, smiling awkwardly at both Kara and Lucy. Kara waves from the living room, lips pursed and Lucy surveys this all with calculating eyes as Alex comes barreling through the door after the two before they can even shut it, grunting as she dodges around James' height, motorcycle helmet tucked under her elbow. "You guys are early."

Winn snorts, eyeing her nervously. "You're uh. You're kinda late?"

Alex glares at him, shoving her completely black helmet onto the hook beside Kara's, House of El sticker almost ready to start peeling off the back, visor in need of a cleaning and Konnor's new one, completely black sans a red trim. "I ordered food on the way here with gridlock on National Street." She looks around, finding Kara shoving the furniture around in the living room, Konnor's door is shut so he must be hiding in there. She throws her jacket over a hook and kicks off her boots as everyone settles around the living room. Konnor comes out of his room when he hears Alex's voice, he finds her fumbling around in the kitchen and he anxiously looks around the apartment, wanting to be around Kara and Alex but wary of the others, especially James.

Kara smiles softly and flutters over to him, pulling him to the living room with gentle hands. He slumps his shoulders and narrows his eyes at the three humans in there, Kara's hand gentle on his as they tremble. "This is Konnor, Kon-El, my cousin." She makes the formal introduction, though James had already met him once, Lucy had just saw him and she talked about him enough at work with Winn that Winn grins at him with an awkward familiarity, wiggling his fingers in what is possibly a wave at the boy glaring at them.

James winces again, Lucy smiles at the boy, as bright as when she grinned at his socks. "No alien team up, kryptonians on separate teams." Kara looks affronted and opens her mouth but Lucy beats her to the punch. "Your brain works like five times faster than ours."

"But I have to convert to English." Kara complains, lips down turning into a pout.

Lucy grin shifts to something wry and Konnor snorts quietly before sitting down in his favorite spot, relaxing with the attention off of him. "Then choose your partner wisely."

Alex slumps against the arm of the chair next to Konnor with a sigh as Lucy and Kara banter. "Here." She passes him a bottle of root beer, cold and already opened.

He sniffs it, the glass is delicate in his hands but he doesn't break it. "What is it?"

"Root beer." She sips at her own drink and he follows, wrinkling his nose as it bubbles down his chest and into his stomach. "Kara likes the fuzziness."

He smacks his lips together, the sweet taste stuck on them. "Why?"

Alex grins. "She's weird like that." He nods and takes another sip before setting it down and grabbing the water bottle Alex had also brought him. He gulps down half of it, licking the sweetness off his lips. It tasted good but it made his stomach bubble oddly, Alex's lips twitch and that's enough to calm his worry at not drinking the rest of it.

Winn is staring at Konnor and the boy grows more sullen, twisting the bottle between his hands. "What?" He barks out.

Winn leans forward. "I get to design your suit right?"

Konnor blinks in genuine confusion, losing the angry sullen glare and gaining furrowed brows. "What?"

Alex leans back, eyeing the both of them as Kara and Lucy banter beside them and James throws in a few words, fingers twisting around his drink. Winn grins at Konnor, wide and bright eyed. "Your super-suit, I get to design it like I did Kara's?"

Konnor narrows his eyes at him. "I don't want a skirt." He stares at Winn before his eyes dart to the ground then back up to Winn. "Or a cape."

Winn is almost vibrating in place, grin stretching across his face. "But you'll let me?"

Alex narrows her eyes at Winn. "He's fifteen and CADMUS is going to be after him."

Winn huffs. "But when he's _eighteen_ I get to do it?" Konnor looks between them but nods. Winn's face splits into a grin. "Yes!"

Konnor startles at the loud scream but settles, shifting his feet. "I don't like yellow."

Winn nods, a little too enthusiastically and Alex is smirking as she watches them. "No yellow then."

Konnor fingers his jeans, pulling at a thread before he looks back up to meet Winn's excited ones. "I like black. And red."

Winn blinks owlishly, staring at Konnor's dark shirt before tilting his head. "We'll work on that, we have three years."

James shifts uncomfortable but smiles slightly at Winn's excitement. Kara shoots up and out of her seat, rushing to the door to pull it open before then delivery man can knock. Ten pizzas are stacked atop on another and the blonde pays before easily carrying them over to the table where the pizza man had struggled. "Alex and I thought we'd introduce Konnor to pizza."

"Don't give him anything too sweet or hot." Alex wrinkles her nose at Winn's jalapeno pizza and James' pineapple when the boxes are set on the large table behind them. "You remember what your first few weeks were like."

"Kryptonian food was very different than Earth food." Kara stuffs half a piece into her mouth as she speaks, setting out the pizzas so each box can be opened. "Earth has so many odd flavors."

"What did you eat before Konnor?" Winn questions the boy as he slides a few slices onto his own plate, used to games nights and ordering spicy food to keep it from Kara's hands. James had yet to learn and Lucy ate whatever was there.

Konnor looks startled again by Winn but shrugs, taking the plate Alex hands him. "I got UV light and a nutrient drip."

Winn's eyes widen and Lucy tilts her head. "You haven't eaten real food?" Winn looks affronted, much like Kara had.

Konnor shrugs. "Alex gave me pasta."

"Without the sauce." Kara mumbles around her third slice of pizza, she had burned enough calories stopping a pile up on the bridge and chasing down an alien bent on collecting as many hubcaps, all silver, as it could. Kara had flew him to the DEO with reluctance, his dark purple eyes had been pitiful and he had chattered away in a language she had yet to learn. Vasquez had made note of the small infraction and told Kara she'd handle it. Which meant he's be in the best 'cell' or hopefully free. But that depended on Lucy and Kara stuffs half the pizza in her mouth, hiding her sigh. Tonight was game night, no work. 

"Its been almost two weeks, he can try sauce and cheese now." Alex taps her fingers on his plate. "I got two cheese pizzas for you."

He furrows his brow, unused to the sheer amount of food they had. "Two?"

"That's sixteen slices, Kara eats fourteen slices by herself if I don't eat all of mine in time. She'll probably eats most of the leftovers tonight after the game. You're human and kyrptonian, you need plenty of food and sun too. I'm thinking your metabolism may be almost up to par with Kara's." And her eyes are flashing with interest and intelligence, a curiosity that she could never quell.

He slips the smallest portion into his mouth before pulling off a chuck. He chews it slowly. "It's good." He murmurs quietly, blue eyes lighter than they were a week ago, once full of so much rage.

"Told you." Kara grins, slipping another slice into her mouth. "Wait until you try pot stickers and chocolate pecan pie."

"Pumpkin is better." Alex says as she slides a veggie pizza into her mouth and Winn starts the movie. Konnor leans back against the arm of the chair, his feet slung over the side and arm, pressed into Alex's knees. Kara is beside Alex on the love seat, practically leaning into her side, stealing pieces of Alex's pizza when the agent leans over to explain something to Konnor. Lucy has her feet propped up in James lap, Winn on the other side of James practically in his lap as he leans around James's large frame so he and Lucy can tear apart the movie with a vengeance. Alex offers her opinion on the science part of it once in a while. James has a grin on his face as he shakes his head and Kara is too happy to steal food from Alex and listen to her family chatter around her. 

* * *

 

Some time later after a movie Alex is sipping at a glass of apple juice, freshly made thanks to Kara's strength, twisting the glass round and round in her hands. "Kara and I usually wipe the floor with everyone."

He looks interested, eyeing Winn and James as they quietly and playfully arguing over tactics. "Why?"

"We've known each other forever, most of these games are easier the more you know your partner." Her shoulders lift slightly then fall back. "Like with charades."

He huffs, shoulders curving, they would lose and he would be the reason. "You don't know me."

Her eyes go soft and he watches her hand from the corner of his eye, from where she's sitting on the love-seat right next to his chair. It comes towards him, stopping just before she touches him. He can feel the coolness of her hand, colder than the rest of her due to the glass in her hand. He had seen her hesitate with touch more than once, like she was the one with super strength. Like she could break him with just a touch. She doesn't hesitate with Kara. At least not that much, once in a while he'll spot her hand tremble and the hesitation in her eyes before she settles with touching Kara gently. Finally her fingers settle on his forearm and she squeezes. "Not yet and not well, but you and I both studied many books."

He scoffs but does not shrug her hand off. "I did not study them. They were _imprinted_ into my brain."

She look angry again, dark and dangerous like she would claw the bad memories from his head before she gives him a snort, lips pressed together but he can see the smile twitching at the corner of her lips at his sarcasm. "But you have knowledge of them."

His own lips twitch and he forces them into a pursed frown but huffs. _"Yes."_

Her fingers squeeze his forearm again before she lets go, bumping her foot into his ankle. "These are knowledge games tonight. Trivia. Kara will ace any animal section and if the conversions are easy to English she'll get the math section. If its constellations she'll get it in the bag easily." And there's something like pride in her eyes and he aches for that too.

He pulls in a deep breath, shoving away the melancholy that makes his chest ache, he shifts again, turning and leaning back against the side of the chair, pulling his feet from the floor. He presses his toes back into Alex's knee like he had during the movie and she doesn't flinch back, simply takes a drink of her apple juice and tilts her head at his inquisitive gaze so he asks the question that's burning on his tongue. "What about you?"

"Science mostly, I know the periodic table front and back." And she shrugs like her knowledge is nothing. "The newest elements too, anything biological, chemical, stuff like that.  Winn will get the games and tech, James celebrities and history trivia. Lucy's a wild card." 

He looks to the smallest of them, she's flicking pistachio shells at James, talking to Kara while she does it, something about not letting the boys win. "Why?"

"She's won most of the trivia games nights, especially if we're doing single instead of partners." She sips at the juice again. "She flies under the radar before she snatches a really hard one up and schools us all."

"Oh." And he watches the others for a second, Alex letting him be quiet before he speaks again, without prompting. "So she and Kara will win then."

Alex smirks, the right side lifting slightly higher and her eyes spark. "You and I can give them a run for their money."

He blinks for a second before tilting his head with a confused huff. "There is money involved?"

Alex tilts her head back and a soft half grin twitches across her lips. "No money, just bragging rights. " He nods in confusion and looks back at Winn and his flailing arms motioning in excitement.

* * *

* * *

* * *

Four days later they're congregating into the living room onto the large couch again, this time it's just the three of them.

"Danvers night gains one." Alex murmurs with a soft smile.

"He'll side with you." Kara pouts in good nature, elbowing Alex in the ribs gently. "Then you'll watch the movies _you_ want."

"How about we let him choose the first one?" Kara nods with a happy grin and heads to the kitchen to get the snacks, keeping an ear out on their conversation.

"Documentary on the ocean." His voice is low, almost a mumble as he stares at the TV, turned sideways in the chair like he always is. Alex laughs and he darts his eyes from the TV to look at her, craning his neck. "What?" The bark is back in his voice, like he's afraid. Angry again.

Alex shakes her head, lips turned up at the sides slightly enough to calm him. "Kara spent three weeks watching documentaries on Earth species, I finally took her to the zoo."

He looks up sharply, eyes bright and he can hear Kara humming in the kitchen, the rattle of the draw as she grabs spoons at a human pace. "Kara said we will go on the Friday she's off." He looks over to the calendar on the wall, information scrawled out all over it, in Kara's almost neat calligraphy, all sharp lines and curves. Alex's almost illegible scribbles are marked on there on certain spots, a doctors appointment here and a reminder to get her jackets from the dry cleaners there. Konnor child like scrawl is heavy on one date, the zoo Friday. Kara's drawn an elephant around his disjointed scrawl. "Tomorrow."

Alex grins. "You'll like it."

"You won't be there?" He sounds so conflicted, like he wants to ask but doesn't think he can and that makes Alex stop what she is doing to look up at him, smiling softly again.

There a war, a conflict, in her eyes and he watches as her shoulders almost tremble. "No, you Kryptonians can bond over Earth animal species, I have to go hunt down a Zorgonot."

Konnor perks up, settling his feet back on the floor to turn and actually face her. "What is that?"

"A left over from Fort Rozz that may be tied to CADMUS, Zeta team thinks they've located him." Alex begins to file the papers she had been working on, hellbent on finishing there before the movie night started, away. "Passing him off to a Tower Team."

He furrows his brows, can hear the stillness in the kitchen, the hum of the freezer being left open. Alex's heartbeat is steady though. "Will Supergirl need to be there?"

"No, i'll call if we need help, but they don't cause too much damage." Her shoulders shrug again and he can hear Kara stop breathing in the kitchen, it makes his muscle tense, worried. "Helen and I created a counter drug to the neurotoxin."

"Neurotoxin? Alex!" Kara comes fluttering out of the kitchen, ice cream crushed in her hands, dripping slowly onto the hardwood floor and her chest is no longer stilled, she heaves with something like rage in her eyes. Konnor's eyes widen and he watches the emotions play across their faces. Never seen Kara this angry before. This scared. Something settles in his chest though, a stone leaving it when he recognizes the anger in Kara's face, she had it too. He wasn't alone with this almost _inhuman_  rage. Where it flooded veins and felt like fire in your chest and a pounding in your head.

Alex closes her eyes before shoving the folders into her messager bag, locking the hidden mechanism for the confidential papers she'd been writing and organizing. "I did this job two years before you became Supergirl, I can do it without Supergirl's help. I'll be fine." There's something in Alex's eyes he can't place. An emotion he'd never seen on her before. 

The ice cream container rips even more, no longer just squished but with five finger like gouges ripping through it. The frozen dairy drips onto the wooden floor but no-one mentions it. Konnor's eyes dart back and forth between the two women, taking in everything. "But i'm invulnerable Alex." There's a tremble to Kara's voice that makes him even more nervous and confused.

"And you already have plans." Alex's chin tilts up in defiance, and Konnor watches Kara's fingers tighten even more, finally obliterating the container. "I'll be fine."

Konnor looks between them before focusing on Kara, shifting so his feet press harder into the floor. "I can help, with Supergirl right?" He wants to be there, want to watch Alex's back because Kara looks like Alex might not come back from the mission, like she'll cease to exist if she's out of their sight to face aliens. Alex tilts her head back, feeling for her parents all those years ago when she would ask one, then ask the other the same question, looking for a different answer.

Kara shakes her head, the anger disappears from her eyes when she looks at him. When she meets his own blue they're protective but not angry. "No, CADMUS is going to be looking for you. We have to keep a low profile for you until then." The blonde turns her attention to Alex, clenching her jaw and he watches the worry and anger settle back over her like a mask as she catches Alex's slumped form on the couch, remote in hand. "We're not done discussing this Alex."

Alex shrugs, fiddling with the remote like they both can't hear the catch in her chest and see the rebellion in her eyes. "You've made plans with Konnor and I have a job to do."

Kara bristles. "Do not use him against me." Alex turns quickly, almost as fast as he would and her eyes bore into Kara's with a glare, fist tight. Konnor tenses but Kara plows on, waving her hands in the air. "You're facing a Zorgonot, known for killing with neurotoxins."

Alex huffs, shaking her head like Kara can't think through her anger and Konnor is still tense, watching them like one would watch the last few minutes of a tied sports game. "I created an _antitoxin_ for it."

Kara throws her hands wide, the ice cream container is slowly crumpling into nothing in her grip and dairy drips on the floor still. "Do you know if it works? What if you get hit?" Konnor's heart quickens and he trembles, what if she does get hurt? What if she dies because he's taken Kara's time? Because he and Kara aren't there with her?

Alex huffs again and stands finally, like she'd been itching to. He continues to watch them. "I won't Kara."

Kara looks frantic again, like her worlds falling out from under her feet and neither of them notice him watching them, too unused to having an audience when they have their rare full-blown arguments. "You don't know that Alex!"

Alex softens at the panic in Kara's face, stepping closer and pulling the destroyed container from her hands. She squeezes Kara's sticky hand. "I've done it a million times." She releases Kara's hand, turning to throw the container away. "I'll be fine."

He watches Kara stiffen, watches her back straighten like a steel rod has replaced it and he watches them _break._ "That car accident a year and a half ago, what was it."

Alex stiffens much like Kara had, turning to stare completely at Kara from the spot between the kitchen and the living room. _"What?"_

Kara's eyes are haughty and her chin high, the fear hidden under it. Like if she lets Alex out of her sight she'll vanish. "If you've been doing this long enough to be fine, what was the real reason for your injuries?"

"Kara." Alex says her name, sighing it out heavily, like it catches in her chest and shatters everything. Konnor's eyes widen, Alex was the strong one, Kara was the happy one and he watches them change in front of him. Show him sides he never thought off. It makes something in his chest relax, that they weren't perfect. That they didn't hover around one emotion.

"Tell me." Those blue eyes, normally able to shatter Alex's resolve when they're soft and begging are now hard and stern. Breaking down Alex's resolve just as well though.

And Alex shudders, slumps like the fight has been pulled form her and Konnor is shocked, remains silent as the two women who had taken him in shatter in front of him. "My first lead mission, I got cornered and one of the aliens got me."

Kara's jaw clenches and he feels the same way, they're almost invulnerable and Alex isn't and it makes something inside of him ache and fester. "And you were _hurt."_ Kara spits the last word out like an accusation. Like a curse. Like it burns her from the inside out. 

Alex scoffs, shaking her head, hands waving around her. "I was _fine."_

Kara's eyes are wild and she glares at Alex stalking closer and closer to her until Kara is at the edges of his vision, like Alex was. "A broken leg, concussion, broken nose, lacerations to your back and five broken ribs!" Her voice climbs, not in pitch but in anger and latent terror.

Alex lets out a sigh, tilting her head higher, her fingers press into her forehead. "And I was _fine."_

Kara's shoulders slumps, and her fingers tremble and Konnor can't tear his eyes away from them. Can't not watch them break in front of him. They're almost in the kitchen but he listens, using powers he knows he shouldn't. "No you weren't."

"I did this two years before Supergirl came out to the world." He can picture the heartbreak on Kara's face, can almost hear her chest break. "I can do this mission without you."

"So you don't need me then?" Kara's voice is high and angry, confrontational but under it is hurt. He can't detect it but Alex, Alex shudders and sighs, able to recognize every emotion from Kara. 

He hears the floor boards creak, Alex shuffling across them. Can barely see her reaching for Kara, she hesitates, like Kara will reject her but Kara is all tense muscles. "Kara that's," And Alex's voice hitches. "That is not what I meant."

He can hear the hitch in Kara's breath and the anguish in Alex's voice, worried and wary he speaks up. "We don't have to go to the zoo."

They both come into the living room with swift feet. "No, no." Kara rests a hand on his forearm before pulling back with a smile. "We'll still go. I promised and we don't break our promises." Her fingers twitch and then they press into his hair, pressing his wild front back. He allows it, taking in the tremble in her fingers and the wobble to her grin. Figures she needs it as much as he does.

"But Alex?" Konnor darts his eyes to Alex, who stands tense with a clenched jaw before he looks back to Kara.

"Will be fine." Kara relents, forehead crinkled. "And if she's not you and I get to tagged team her with 'I told you so'." Kara glares at the agent warning and Alex sighs, clicking on the documentary as she sits down, their argument done. Konnor looks between them, worried and confused but sits back down, presses his feet into the cushions of the chair and watches them from the corner of his eye. There's a space between them that was never there before. A tense set to their shoulders that betrays their feelings. 

* * *

The next day Alex heads into the DEO after having breakfast with Kara and Konnor. The boy had been nervous and twitchy but there was a seed of excitement hidden in his eyes as Alex pressed the day bag, full of snacks and anything else two kryptonians would need at the zoo, into Kara's hands. Her heart had throbbed at missing an important milestone, an important day, with Konnor and the worry that clung to Kara but this was her job, and the Zorgonot might have been in CADMUS, they could hold answers that Alex needs about CADMUS. About Konnor. About her father. So with a heavy heart she heads to the DEO to prep her team and chase down the alien while Konnor and Kara take the car to the zoo. Kara had given her a look, heavy with meaning and thick with fear, but when she turned to face Konnor it was gone, hidden away like that latent anger that always hid beneath her smile and bright eyes. That rage that came out with lashing words when she was scared, worried or angry.

When Alex gets to the DEO Tower her team is just now coming from the parking garage hidden under the building like she is. Johnson is tall and steady, leading the other four. His brown hair cropped tight to his head, light brown skin gleaming under florescent lights. He would be imposing if he didn't have soft eyes and wasn't laughing at something Underwood was mumbling to him. Underwood's dirty blonde hair is pulled back into a tight bun, showing off flushed cheeks and she nudges Darío with her hip. He rolls his eyes, catching sight of Alex and stiffening in a stance that betrays his origin. They'd all been recruited from different places and it shows under their DEO training. Darío the most militant, discharged when Don't Ask Don't Tell was still in play. Underwood a gymnast who had a knack for bombs and codes, who showed up on the DEO radar when she tried to copy the bats from Gotham. Johnson who was once a cop in Gotham, fired when he tried to flip on the corrupt cops. Cunnignham who was once a doctor without borders, who'd stumble upon humans attacking aliens and aliens retaliating in a country that already had enough wars. Jamin a legacy of the DEO, following in her father's footsteps, transferring to National City when her father died at the hands of an alien and he brother's accusation in her ear.

"Agent Danvers." Darío almost salutes, she can see it in the tense set to his shoulders.

"Team, we leave at 08:00, suit up." Her five agents nod and they make their way to the changing rooms, in ten minutes they'll be dressed and debriefing with Hank. In fifteen they'll check weapons and their tactical gear. Then they'll hit the SUV and be on their way. Vasquez, no Junel, in their ears. Alex runs through the lists in her head, the time and information on the Zorgonot as she straps weapons to her and ties knots that need it. Cunnignham is pulling Jamin's long hair into a tight braid, his fingers deft and sure. Johnson is tying his boots, shirt off and slipping knives into their sheaths. Darío is dressed already, checking for loose pieces and anything that will compromise him. Underwood is strapping the tactical vest on, pressing over each strap with precision and knowledge. Looking for faults and stretching out her muscles every few seconds. They're done in five minutes, hurrying out of the changing room and heading to Director Henshaw. They're ahead of schedule, but Hank is already in the debriefing room. He doesn't look surprised and the mission is already pulled up on screen. "You've all read the files Zeta team sent to us. I'm not going to tell you what you already know." He eyes each of them. "I want you to be aware of your surroundings, a barb from this alien _will_ kill you. There is a antitoxin, but we do not know if it works yet and I would rather it be tested in a lab than in the field due to incompetence. Am I clear?" They echo their 'Sir yes sir's' and he purses his lips. "Bring the Zorgonot in, without injury if you can. The alien may hold answers that we need to CADMUS, you all know the drill. Agent Danvers the team is in your control as of now. Bring back the Zorgonot."

Alex nods sharply. "Of course sir. Let's go, Zeta's given us the last known location." They stand and hurry to the SUV, Johnson driving like always.

The GPS chimes and Junel murmurs directions in their ear, it is profession and monotone, nothing like Vasquez's calm yet teasing tone, even when under pressure. Alex is in the passenger seat, rifle on her shoulder. "None-lethal shots, shoot the putty at the barbs. We want to disable the Zorgonot's defense system before we move in." Her team nods, checking their weapons again. They park the SUV in an alley and it's a warehouse, of course it's a fucking warehouse. Alex motions with her hands, sharp fingers and a tense wrist. Her team nods and they make their way through, Underwood, crouches low, gun aimed at the door, Darío crouched on the other side. Jamin and Cunnignham behind them. Alex counts down on her fingers and she and Johnson yanks the door open. They all aim at empty air before moving though the door, Alex first, knees bent and body compacted together to make her, as a target, smaller, her gun clasped in her hands. Jamin follows right behind her, then Cunnignham and Johnson. Darío and Underwood following behind them.

The warehouse is quiet and they've yet to make any noise sans the creak of the door when they opened it. Light filters through the broken windows and Alex taps her helmet. The other follow her lead, flipping on their goggles to see in the dim warehouse, no artificial lights and barely any sunlight. They move around crates efficiently, their body cameras feeding back to the DEO. They clear the warehouse bit by bit, it's not until they get part of the way through the maze of crates, sheets and boxes that they spot the alien. The Zorgonot is perched on a crate, halfway hidden behind another stacked atop a nearby one. It's eating something that could be a rat, swallowing the thing whole when it begins to sniffs the air. Jamin is tense, the barbs on it's back are pointed in their direction, they startle the alien and it'll all go downhill.

Alex twitches her fingers to the right and Cunnignham, Underwood and Johnson move to the right, to sweep around it's other side. Darío and Jamin follow her. Junel is speaking lowly, mentioning blind spots that Alex already knows about, a sense of smell that'll give a blood hound a run for it's money. They're downwind for now. It's still crouched atop the crate and it has a low body temperature, lethargic movements that betray it alien origin on their helmet's heat feed. It trills to itself quietly and Jamin tenses behind Alex but follows. Alex taps her earbud three times, Johnson taps back twice and they move forward. Their breaths are coming easy and their hearts would be racing if not for the training they'd received. 

Alex motions to Darío and he gets his putty gun ready, aiming at it's back. Alex taps her earpiece twice counts down from three with her fingers and then Darío fires. The putty hits the barbs across it's back and the Zorgonot screeches, howling their rage out and stumbling off the crate when Underwood's putty catches a barbed shoulder. Jamin is tense and ready, fingers itching. "Still non-lethal?"

"It may have answers." Alex murmurs quietly, then into the comm. "Putty it's front and other arm, the scales should be impervious to most weapons, I want the barbs covered before we move in. Move out, Achilles formation." Jamin tenses but nods, gets right behind Alex as Alex pulls out her putty gun, Darío pulling up the rear.

They can still hear it screeching, echoing through the warehouse when Underwood let's out a shout of pain that she cuts off halfway through. Hank questions tightly over the comm but no one answers him, they'd give away their location to the Zorgonot. Jamin jerks to move forward and get to Underwood but Alex shakes her head. The air is heavy with tension and they make their way through the maze of crates. The screeching has stops and trills fill the air once in a while, echoing and angry. Alex checks around one corner and Jamin moves to check another but is distracted by a grunt of pain over the comm. Alex spots the Zorgonot out of the corner of her eye, the same time Darío does. Alex yanks Jamin back by her tac-vest, pulling her putty gun up just as a barb slips through her shoulder. Alex just grunts in pain, teeth clenched tightly.

The alien screeches at them, launching with strong legs at them. Darío doesn't miss, hitting the arm covered in barbs with the putty gun. The putty expands, covering those barbs and the Zorgonot screeches again, launching into the rafters as Jamin fires live ammo after it, face twisted, eyes almost glazed. Alex yells for a cease fire and J'onn is barking commands in their ear but they ignore him as Jamin stops. If they weren't trained as well as they were they'd be heaving in lungfuls of air, panting with panic but they're calm in the face of danger. Some even thrilled. 

Darío grips the plunger and jams it right next to the barb in Alex's shoulder. Alex hisses through her teeth as the antitoxin floods her body, chasing the burn of the neurotoxin. Darío rips out the barb, flushing the wound quickly as Jamin keeps watch, tense and waiting. Darío shoves gauze across the hole, stuffing it as much as he can in the limited time, taping it tightly before tying a cloth tightly around it. Johnson hisses a question of location through the comms and Underwood barks out an answer to it, separated form the others when she was injured. Jamin answers for Alex's group as Alex stands and Darío huffs but follows after her.

The Zorgonot is screeching and Cunnignham asks about lethal force, the shots Jamin had fired. Johnson barks out an answer when Alex does. He's calling for more putty and then there is an explosion, something that should not have happened. Alex takes off to it, the Zorgonot is screeching around them, echoing around the warehouse. They're terrified and done with being assaulted by earthlings with guns and loud voices.

Alex spots a slightly lower temperature figure through the smoke, her helmet still on, her putty gun raises and she fires in quick succession, aiming for the areas she knows hold barbs. Alex races forward after firing one last shot, tackling the alien, slamming into the side and kicking a leg out form under the alien. They screech under her and she hears Johnson shout before he too is pressing down on the Zorgonot. When the dusts settles the Zorgonot is pinned below Alex and Johnson, the putty keeps the barbs, and it's legs unable to fight back, tail thrashing. It's trilling at them in it's language, screeching when it tries to move. Johnson cuffs the Zorgonot's tail to a leg.  and Jamin jumps in, pressing the muzzle of her gun to the head of the Zorgonot it stills, the only movement is the tail, twitching against the cuff and Alex gets up slowly as Johnson pulls arms back, putty sticking to his hands. "Jamin, put it away." Jamin's face twists in anger but she puts away the gun without hesitation, following Alex orders tightly.

The Zorgonot is glaring at Alex and the spot their barb went through, trilling angrily at her. Alex surveys the alien. There's no visible CADMUS brand like the one Harper's men had threatened her and J'onn with but the Zorgonot is heavily scarred, hands twisted with old and new scars. Scaled face soft and unprotected where its healing, fresh purple blood leaking through the halfway healed wounds. Hard and scarred in some places, a paler brown than the rest of it's brown and green scales, old wounds already healed. They look like they've been through the wringer and when Johnson finishes cuffing them, they deflate, letting out a low keening sound with a bowed head. Defeated and tired. Terrified if the wide eyes are anything to go by, tail twitching slightly from where it's cuffed to their leg.

Alex moves to grab one arm but Cunnignham huffs and moves forward, grabbing one arm while Johnson grabs the other, they lead it to the SUV. "Jamin, Darío survey the warehouse, look for anything odd." Alex moves to Underwood, who is favoring her knee. "You good?" There's a bandage already wrapped around the knee, courtesy of Cunnignham.

"Jumped from the rafters and slammed me through a crate." Underwood's face is twisted in shame. Alex pats her shoulder, awkward as ever but she bends down to survey the knee.

"You get hit with any barbs?" Alex presses into the knee, feeling around for anything unusual.

"No." Dark eyes star at the gauze on Alex's shoulder as Alex stands. "But you did."

"I got the antitoxin." Alex grabs Underwood's arm, slipping it around her shoulders. "Let's go." She moves through the maze of crates easily. The Zorgonot is silent in the back of the SUV when they get there, strapped into the seat. Their eyes are half lidded and they look defeated. Alex feels for the Zorgonot, if they were in CADMUS they must think they're going back. Dull green eyes flicker to look at Alex, slit like a cats. "We're not CADMUS." The words don't seem to register with them because they just look at Alex with the same terror and hatred. 

* * *

 

Alex and her team hit the changing room once they detain the Zorgonot below. They're getting medical attention and if they hold no answers the DEO will move the Zorgonot to Lucy's jurisdiction and get it fixed up and on a nutritional plan. They're all stripping of their tactical suits, Johnson is eyeing Alex as she peels off the field bandage across her shoulder. Alex glares at him. "Not a word."

Johnson nods vigorously, turning his head away quickly with a wince. Underwood snorts from where Darío is helping her out of her pants. Jamin on the other hand laughs loudly at her. "Worried about the Girl of Steel, Danvers?"

The woman had been cocky since she transferred in from another DEO nine months ago to replace Humbert, who opted out after breaking his back and going through rehab. Again. Alex glares at her. "Jamin, I will put you on latrine and desk duties for the next month."

Jamin scoffs, upbraiding her long red hair with her dirt ridden fingers. "Hey I saved your ass out there. That thing would have demolished you if I hand't fired live ammo."

Johnson shakes his head, pulling off his tactical vest with a wince. "Pretty sure Danvers took the spur to the shoulder for you."

Jamin huffs, shaking out her hair with a glare, face twisted petulantly. "I would've dodged." Alex glares at them all, Jamin stiffens, moves to stand at attention despite having a hand buried in her hair and in a sports bra. "Sorry Agent Danvers."

"Five hours a week on the simulator, be aware of your surroundings." Alex glares at her. "And latrine duty for a week for not following orders." 

Jamin stiffens but nods. "Yes ma'am."

"And not word, head to medical once you're dressed down, make sure none of you got hit. Especially you Underwood, get that knee checked out." She levels the five of them with a harsh look. "I don't care if you think you didn't, get checked out."

The five people in her squad nod and choruses of 'Yes ma'am' follow her orders. They finish getting undressed, hurrying into decontamination before going their separate ways.

Alex heads to medical herself, rubbing at the spot on her shoulder where the spur went in and the spot where Darío had jammed to antitoxin into her. Thankfully she and Helen had correctly separated the toxin compounds and made the antitoxin correctly. Medical's door hisses open as she nears it. "Agent Danvers." Doctor Hamilton is staring at her with pursed lips, looking over Alex's freshly decontaminated person.

Alex pulls her shoulder back despite the pain. "Doctor Hamilton."

"I heard congratulations are in order to you and Helen." And the look on her face is anything but congratulatory.

"We'll work on making sure the antitoxin is on file and stored in medical now," Her shoulders are still pulled back as she speaks. Still at attention. "For future uses."

Doctor Hamilton snorts, turning around to head into the room. "Sit down Danvers, take off your shirt." Alex does as she's told without hesitation. "Lucky it didn't hit any arteries." She pokes and prods at it, letting it weep red. "Straight through too." She pokes at both holes. "Lucky."

Alex shakes her head, ignoring the pain. "We'll need to update the tac-vest, they didn't even hold up against it."

"Only the second one the DEO as a whole has faced." She wipes at the blood now leaking out. "I'll draw a blood sample to make sure all the toxins are out and the antitoxin is working correctly. Was there any fabric left in the wound?"

"No, Darío got all the pieces out before he stuffed gauze in it." Hamilton shakes her head at that, Darío was known to go overboard with the gauze. Too worried about someone bleeding out.

"Good. I'm going to flush it out and stitch it up, antibiotics for ten days, we don't want an infection from an alien wound." She begins to flush the wound out with a saline solution. "I can't prescribe you anything stronger than Tylenol for the pain." And they both remember when Alex first came in, alcohol flooding her veins and a detox that lasted three months.

"I don't want anything stronger than that." And her hand shakes but she stills it, her shoulder may be throbbing now, but pain is far better than the fear of what she'll do if she gets something strong. Something that isn't over the counter. Something that could be more addicting than alcohol. Alcohol that she still reaches for in times of stress.

"You won't get them. Tylenol when you need it, ice the wound to keep inflammation down." Doctor Hamilton smirks, pulling gently at one of the stitches to finish that one. "You know the drill already."

Alex snorts, shaking her head and ignoring the pull of stitches. "Of course Doctor."

Hamilton murmurs quietly as she pulls the skin back together before actually speaking. "I'll talk with Director Henshaw before we decide if you need a light duty or desk duty."

Alex stiffens, not glaring but surveying the doctor with laser like intensity. "I've injured my shoulder before, I'll be fine."

Doctor Hamilton purses her lips, pulling the stitch closed with gentle precision born from years of practice. "As your doctor and with Director Henshaw we'll decide." 

"I'm fine." She lifts her arm up and swings it around, blood leaks out the back and the stitches in the front pull but don't rip. "It's my right arm, I've broken it enough times to compensate with my left, perfectly fine."

Doctor Hamilton grabs her by her elbow, pulling the arm back down and cleaning the leaking blood before beginning to stitch again. "That's what i'm worried about, Director Henshaw will make the decision." Alex scowls but remains silent.

* * *

Hank comes around the corner when the last stitch is knotted, like he was beckoned or knew exactly where to find Alex. "Agent Danvers, Doctor Hamilton."

Doctor Hamilton looks up from where she's now drawing blood from Alex, eyes pinched as Alex straightens her back, pulling her shoulder back. Despite being in just a sports bra and her pants she looks every bit of agent as always. "Director, what do you need?"

His eyes narrow as he looks at the wound on her shoulder before her meets her gaze. "We need eyes." Doctor Hamilton presses a cotton ball and tape onto the curve of Alex's elbow, where she drew blood.

"Where?" Alex is pulling her shirt on now, quelling the urge to wince when the stitches pull just a little.

"The square." And he looks like he's sucked a lemon, like he doesn't want to tell Alex anything but needs to. "Lena Luthor is in town and is giving a speech."

Alex stiffens, they all remember the ties to the Luthor name. CADMUS. Lex and his earthquake. Konnor and his escape from CADMUS. This was too coincidental. "When did she get here?"

His eyes are narrow and his arms crossed. "Split decision to move LexCorp to National City. The media just found out she's here."

"I'll go check it out." She's standing now, running through routes there and anything in between. "Kara and Konnor should still be at the zoo."

Hank narrows his eyes. "Agent Danvers."

"Lex Luthor had ties to CADMUS, i'll just _observe."_ She's staring at him in a way that's always reminded him of his daughters, a way that makes him want to cave.

Henshaw snorts but relents. "I want you in the crowd, _civilian_ clothes. Try to remain uninjured. I don't want CADMUS tipped off that Miss Luthor is on our radar."

Alex arches an eyebrow up. "They won't expect an injured civilian to be DEO. I'll be fine." Both Doctor Hamilton and J'onn send her withering looks but there was a mole in the DEO and Hank and Alex wouldn't trust anyone else with this. Not with Konnor and Kara possibly on CADMUS and by association, the Luthors, radar.

* * *

* * *

Alex waits at the edge of the crowd, close enough to the stage to see Lena Luthor and get to her if necessary but far enough away to keep the surrounding people in view. Lena begins her speech, chin high and lips bright red. She looks at the crowd likes she's off to war. Like they'll eat her alive given the chance, but that's all hidden under her cool exterior, the masses won't see it. "I wanted to thank you all for coming today. I know most of you know who I am or have heard of my family. The Luthor name used to mean something besides anti-Superman. Beside being lumped with my brother and his bout of mental illness that turned into madness.

It used to be a company solely built to make the world better. As a child I used to go to LuthorCorp when it was under my father's control. He was designing better engines, better flight lines. Safety measures other companies had overlooked. When he died Lex took over, my mother still on the board overseeing him and LuthorCorp continued to flourish. I used to intern at LuthorCorp when I was in college. I was working to make the world a better place." She chuckles at this, self-depreciating and the crowd is enraptured by her. "I was so involved with my work that I didn't notice Lex's spiral. He changed the name to LexCorp and I rolled my eyes but put it to Lex being Lex, I had a name to live up to after all." And she sighs at this, the reporters are silent but enthralled.

"I wanted to be the best there was and I thought at the time that was all that mattered. Then Lex attacked Metropolis and it's people to attack one man." Lena's eyes wrinkle and her voice threatens to waiver before it holds strong. "He was lost to me and the company was thrust upon me with his incarceration. I am the sole Luthor in charge of my family's company. My mother has rescinded her chair, dealing with the loss of her husband and her son." There's something Alex recognizes in her gaze now, the thought of never being enough for a mother. It makes her ache with familiarity. "I want to make the company mean something again. I am renaming it LCorp, I want it not to be associated with Lex but with the bett-" There's an explosion near the back of the stage. The stage trembles and people scream, but there's no blood.

Lena Luthor jumps off the stage like she had been expecting someone to attack her today, ducking under men in dark clothes and Alex follows after her. Dodging around civilians screaming, Alex hits the emergency beacon on her belt but this is a human involvement, had to be. DEO didn't deal with human involvement, but this was a Luthor and Lex Luthor had ties to CADMUS. Maybe just maybe they'd have jurisdiction here.

Ahead of her Lena runs into a police officer, waving her hands and explaining with a relieved grin. Alex keeps an eye on her, still heading in the direction of the CEO and then very suddenly a gun is pulled and the man offers Lena Luthor a malicious grin. Alex moves without thought lunging forward to throw her weight into his side and shove the gun up. It fires once, then twice before she slams his wrist into her knee and elbows him in the face. He lets go and she throws the gun away from his grip. It's her first mistake, but there's civilians running away, screaming and Lena look properly terrified. 

He slams an elbow into her face and she ducks away, dodging another hit before thrusting a knee into his side and an elbow to his temple. He grunts, stumbling before pulling out a knife and swiping at her with it. She grabs his wrist, twisting and evading before punching him in the face. Quick, twice in succession before he kicks at her ankle. It gives and he moves to elbows her in the face. She ducks her face out of the way and falters slightly when his hit glances off her injured shoulder and he grins, throwing punches and knife thrusts at her. She dodges around them but he hones in on her pain, kicking her in her sprained knee and then digging a hand into her shoulder. He moves to thrust the knife into her side and she reacts, twisting his wrist and breaking his thumb. The knife falls away and he screams.

He throws another wild punch at her face and she dodges, slipping through his defense and nailing him in the ribs. He pulls another knife from his boot and she huffs out a laugh before making the first move, dodging around the swipes and throwing him to the ground. This is her second mistake. He rolls and she tightens her grip on the knife and she realizes too late as he rolls right over the gun, picking it up as Kara, _Supergirl,_ slams into the ground next to them, cape fluttering in the wind. He's quick, grabbing Alex and press the gun to her temple when Alex is distracted looking for Konnor. Kara looks murderous, taking in the blood coating Alex's grey jumper and the split lip. "Let her _go."_ There's a dangerous lit to her voice.

The man laughs. "Can't do that love. You gotta let me go first."

Kara glares at him, calculating the intensity of her heat vision and if it could hurt Alex. "You were sent here, why?" Then she's calculating if she can grab the gun before he shoots Alex.

"Why else? She's sidin' with the aliens, pullin' back from creatin' the tech to fight them." He has Alex pulled tight to his chest, like he knows the limitations to a kryptonians powers, like he knows all the thoughts filtering through Kara's head right now. "Ruinin' her brother's legacy." Kara is debating on the possibility of using super-speed when the decision is made for her.

Alex moves without warning, slamming her foot into his instep, her elbow into his side and thrusting the gun up. As she does this there's a bang of the gun going off and their hearts seem to stop for a second before the man is falling, gurgling on his own blood. Kara lets out a breath that she had held since she'd heard the explosion and saw Alex, hurt and fighting and then at gunpoint.

Alex looks up to spot Lena holding a gun in a steady grip, her lip trembles but she's steady, green eyes wide. "Thanks." Alex grins like she hadn't been held at gunpoint and Kara grits her teeth. She can't yell at her in Supergirl uniform, can't berate her. Can't hug her.

Lena grins even wider, flashing teeth like a shark, lowering the gun. "I think I should be thanking you."

Alex pulls out an id, holding it up for the woman to see her photo and the symbol, but not her name. "FBI, i'll get it from here Miss." She bends down, cuffing him and pressing into his wound when he moves to lurch at Lena Luthor with a gurgle. NCPD shows up with an ambulance seconds later and the man is stuffed in, blamed for the bombs and the attempted murder at Alex's words and insistence.

Supergirl is stiff in front of them and Alex stares at her over the smoke billowing behind them, cops moving around them as well after taking their statements. "There's fire Supergirl."

Kara grits her teeth. "Are you alright?" There's a bite to her voice as she glares at Alex. Lena furrows her brow, almost taking a step back at the intensity of the hero.

Alex huffs, eyes wrinkling. "Miss Luthor and I are fine, _go."_   

Supergirl bolts away and Lena runs a hand through her hair. "Is National City this exciting or did I bring it with me?"

Alex laughs, loud and uninhibited before shaking her head, woozy from the pain. "You haven't seen anything yet." Two men come from the shadows, but Lena looks at them with a familiar trust. Her bodyguards then. Alex nods to them and they lead Lena away. Alex lets out a sigh, pressing on her now bloodied shoulder and watches Supergirl blow out fires and help the injured to ambulances, her shoulders are tense and there's a scowl on her face. "Great."

* * *

After debriefing Hank they head to medical, Kara is pacing the room. She's silent, glaring at Alex as Doctor Hamilton stitches her up again. "Where's Konnor?" Alex winces as Doctor Hamilton stitches a slice across her ribs from the fight.

"With Agent Vasquez." Kara is frowning at her and Alex tilts her head to the side. "I called Lucy and Vasquez was the only one near me to get him into hiding so I could get to the square." Kara is glaring at her. "She'll bring him home once we get there." The 'After I yell at you' is left unsaid but Doctor Hamilton smirks and Alex winces. They both know exactly what Kara left unsaid. The rest of the visit is silent after that, Alex stiff while Doctor Hamilton stitches her up and Kara glaring at every little wound she spots on Alex. When Doctor Hamilton is done Alex pulls on her shirt, still bloodied and Kara steps forward. "Is she fine to fly Dr. Hamilton?"

There's a sparkle in the Doctor's eyes and Alex narrows her own as the doctor nods. "Keep pressure off her wounds, make sure she takes her antibiotics and ices the shoulder wound when necessary. We'll get her started on some regen within the next few days."

Kara nods sharply, curls bouncing. "Thank you."

Alex tenses. "Kara I can take my bi-" Her response is cut off when Kara sweeps her into her arms, bridal style and speeds out of Medical and then out of the tower's roof entrance. Alex tucks her head into Kara's neck as soon as strong hands had wrapped around her. She knew the limitations to super-speed and flying just as Kara did and it always worked better with her neck and face hidden from the strong winds torn up from super-speed and initial take off. Alex's stomach, already used to such feats, doesn't even protest when they go from super speeding to flying.

They land in the apartment seconds later, the window and curtains fluttering shut behind them. Kara sets her on her feet and backs away, hand trembling. She's quiet and her eyes are stormy, Alex's heart breaks and she lets out a shuddering breath. "Ka-"

Kara interrupts her, hands still shaking. "What the hell Alex?" There so much anguish in her eyes, like she's waking up from the Black Mercy again.

Alex softens around the edges, stepping closer. "I'm fine."

Kara steps back, shaking her head, voice cracking with anguish and rage. "You're hurt."

Alex swallows thickly, shrugging her uninjured shoulder. "It happens."

Righteous fury breaks across Kara's face and she opens her mouth ready to chew Alex to pieces when the door bursts open. Konnor comes storming in the door, nearly breaking it, Agent Vasquez right after him. "Sorry, he heard you were hurt and made demands."

Konnor scowls at them, hands shaking much like Kara's were. "What happened? They said there were _bombs."_

"I'm fine Konnor, it wasn't the bomb that hurt me." Alex glares at Kara who had scoffed and crossed her still trembling hands over her supersuit. "I'm _fine._ Thank you Susan."

Vasquez lets out a chortle before schooling her expression and nodding. "No problem ma'am. Supergirl, Konnor, see you guys later. 

Konnor is staring at Alex, at the blood staining her shoulder, his own shoulders are trembling. "Who did it?" There's that anger under there, his hands are shaking with rage and if he was full kryptonian his eyes would surely be glowing with heat.

Alex moves closer to him, motioning to her shoulder and smiling at him. "I'm fine Konnor, I got a stray spur to the shoulder."

Kara makes a noise in the back of her throat that sounds somewhere between a laugh, a scoff and a choked sob and Konnor is glaring at the blood like he'd never seen it before. "Can't you heal it?"

Alex's lips twitch and she shakes her head. "It's healing, Dr. Hamilton stitched it up."

"Again." Kara scathing murmurs. 

Alex clenches her teeth, turning to glare back at Kara. "I'm _fine."_

Kara glares right back, furious and terrified. "This wouldn't have happened if I would have went with you."

Alex scoffs and Konnor won't stop staring at the blood. "I've had far worse Kara."

Tears fill blue eyes and Kara's entire body trembles. "And you could have died!"

"I can die any time Kara!" Alex jerks her uninjured arm out, throwing it wide before she shakes her head. Kara gapes at her in anguish, swallowing thickly as Alex continues. "I am not invulnerable. I could die going to get coffee, I could die at work or at the fucking park."

"STOP!" Konnor has his fists clenched and he is shaking. _"Stop."_

Alex runs a hand through her hair, shoulders slumping. "Konnor-"

"NO!" He's glaring at her shoulder still, like he'd never seen blood before. "We should've. We should've been there. We're." His voice in catching, anger and fear. "We're invulnerable."

Alex and Kara meet eyes and under all that anguish and anger there's an understanding. Alex speaks first, Kara still too worked up. "Konnor, i'm sorry, but there is no way you are going into the field. Not with CADMUS on the loose and certainly not when you're fifteen."

He glares at her, hands clenching into fists. "I have super strength. Nothing can hurt me."

"Konnor, there is plenty that could hurt you." Kara's voice is shaking but gains strength as she steps close, settling a hand on his elbow. "We can't risk it. You are not going in the field." 

And he's staring at Kara like she has all the answers, like she could do anything. "What about Alex?"

Alex lets out a soft sigh, moving closer to the other two. "I can take care of myself Konnor, and I have my team at my back."

He throws Kara's hand off, glaring at Alex, no glaring at her shoulder. "They didn't protect you today! What if you die next time?" And he's panting, heaving with terror and the realization that not everyone is near invulnerable.

Alex swallows, stepping forward, past Kara who trembles still, who would flinch under Alex's touch with the amount of overwhelm Kara is feeling. So she steps close to Konnor. "I'm alive right now. That is all I can promise Konnor." She grabs his hands, presses his fingers into her wrist to feel her heart beat. "Believe me, I know the world is unpredictable and it will hurt you, it will always hurt you." All three of them know intimately how much the world can hurt, can take from them. "But you have to accept the possibility that bad things will happen and that they are beyond your control."

"Kara's kryptonian, she can. She can protect you. She _can't_ die." His blue eyes are wide with something that pulls at their hearts as he searches for an answer where there is none.

Alex presses her fingers to his face and Kara has her own pressed to her face as tears slip down her cheeks and her shoulders shake. "Konnor. She can. We _all_ can die."

"That's not. That's not fair!" His eyes are twisted and they haven't known him too long. He hasn't even spent more than a month with them but he is already attached. Already making a home and he is so lost and confused at the possibility that it can all be taken away from him at a moments notice.

Alex remembers Kara's first flu season with them. Afraid they'd all die then and there because of their weak human bodies. "I know it's not." Her fingers guide his trembling frame to hers and he relaxes into her before his finger skims over the blood. He jerks back, staring at his hand before he rushes to his room with a burst of inhuman speed, slamming the door hard enough to make the entire apartment shake. Alex rubs at her eyes and she can feel Kara's next sentence. _"Please_ don't." Alex's chest hurts, she had done the right thing, pulled her agent back but she had hurt more than herself with the move.

Kara clicks her mouth shut, nostrils flaring before she sighs, shoulders slumping. "I'll get dinner, please clean your injury. _Please."_

Alex winces, moves to step closer to the blonde. _"Kara."_

"No, I just. Rao." Kara runs shaking fingers through curls, pulls them back to the nape of her neck. "I need a few seconds to calm down before I do something rash."

Alex drops her chin to her chest. _"Okay."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's going to be some key point and characters from season two, though I will change some things around. Also I have not seen season two, like at all. Only seen bits and pieces of it on gifs on tumblr.
> 
> p.s. Disclaimer(because I forgot to put one and I guess I need to at least say it once): I don't own anything( and am not getting anything) from Supergirl, that all belongs to the writers etc. etc.
> 
> p.p.s Also Kara and Alex tend to forget that Konnor is there when they argue, they still aren't quite used to having someone around to witness their arguments where its usually just the two of them around.


	4. Hurts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attempting to balance life as it grows and changes around them.

They sleep in separate rooms that night. Konnor hadn't come out of his room, not even to tell them goodnight and Kara, she'd told Alex goodnight with a tense jaw and eyes that refused to look at her. But she still told Alex goodnight, she knew every moment counted. That every word matters. 

Alex looks as Kara stands there, tense shoulders and face twisted with emotion as she refuses to meet Alex's eyes. And Alex's gaze is pained as she watches Kara struggle but not apologetic. Not when she stopped one of her people from taking a spur to the chest. But she is sorry. Sorry that she scared the two of them. That she put that look of anguish in Kara gaze. "Good night Kara, I'll see you in the morning." And Alex goes to her room, leaves the door cracked and falls into bed, shoving an ice pack onto her shoulder and huffing out a tired sigh into her pillow.

Alex wakes sometime in the middle of the night, feeling a familiar presence in the room. She mumbles, tired and still half asleep. "I thought you finished watching me sleep after the first year on earth?" Kara doesn't say anything and Alex opens her eyes, blinking them until Kara comes into view. Kara looks haunted, blue eyes wide, otherworldly and dark. There's a shadow across her face and her muscles tense like she expects to be kicked out. Alex flips up her blanket. "Get in." Kara says nothing but crawls in beside Alex, pressing into her side, wary of the injured shoulder. Alex rubs at Kara's back with her good arm before falling back asleep with a soft mumble. Kara lays completely still, listening to easy breaths and the thump of Alex's heart, eyes half lidded.

An hour later there is a creak in the hallway, only heard because of super-hearing and Kara looks over to find Konnor standing in the doorway, looking through the crack of the partially opened door like there would be trouble. "Konnor?"

He looks at her with familiar haunted eyes through the crack. "Does it stop?" His hands tremble behind the door and his voice is rough with sleep and fear.

Kara stares at him, with her stomach dropping and heart aching. She lets out a sigh, tightens her hold on Alex's waist. "No, the fear and worry never stop."

"I don't. I." And his brows are furrowed, angry at his inability to say what he needs. "I hate it." Kara remains silent as he heaves in a shuttering breath, crossing shaking hands over his chest behind the door like she can't see him. "Why did she have to get hurt?"

Kara's heart stutters and she listens to the steady beat of Alex's heart, arms tight around the human. "She has to save everyone." Kara's voice cracks. "Who do you think I learned it from?" And her lips twist, as if to goad him into smiling but the words crack and it falls short.

He stares at Alex, at the white bandage visible under her tank top, as he steps into the doorway. The door creaks under his hand. "Will she die?"

Kara's chest stills and they both are silent, listening to the beat of Alex's heart. Kara trembles and Konnor stares at Kara like she has all the answers. "One _day."_   And her words crack as they leave her lips and her entire body shudders with a choked sob. Konnor's face shatters and he glowers, angry at the world but under all that rage is that familiar anguish. 

"Why!" Its explosive, angry and torn and so very, very scared. Alex murmurs in her sleep at his slightly louder than normal voice but slumbers on, content in Kara's hold. Safe.

They wait with baited breath but Alex's slow breaths continue. "Because she's human." Kara pulls in a deep breath, taking in a scent that's all Alex and the smell of drying blood. Alex is wounded. Wounded but alive. Konnor still stands in the doorway, almost in the room. "Do you want to get in?" And his jaw is tight, teeth grinding. "It helps, listening." He slowly moves over, almost lays down on Alex's other side before he stares at his hands, then at Kara holding Alex and back to his hands before he moves. Sitting at Kara's back, he curls up in a ball, back to Kara's but listening to Alex on the other side of Kara.

* * *

* * *

They wake up the morning to Kara's phone going off with an agonizingly loud trill. Kara lets out a long suffering sigh as she stares at the phone before flopping back against the pillow. "Miss Grant needs me to go in early."

Alex grumbles in her half asleep state, before finally waking up all the way. Konnor is still blissfully asleep, sprawled out on Kara's other side, drooling into the pillow. Alex runs her hand through her hair as she sits up, wincing at the pull of her stitches. "Okay, I'll take Konnor with me to the DEO."

Kara stares at the gauze pad on Alex's shoulder, covered slightly by the tank top she word to bed. "Alex."

Alex lets out a sigh, shoving her tangled hair from her eyes. "I'm not active until Doctor Hamilton clears me."

Kara scoffs, shakes her head as she rolls into a sitting position as well, careful of the slumbering boy beside her. "And showing up at Lena Luthor's speech with your gun?"

Alex purses her lips, it had been a toss up decision, Hank had almost taken her out of the field before the Luthor situation, but she'd lucked out and he had sent her, wary to send anyone else for fear they'd be with CADMUS. She was definitely not in the field this week. Not after making her wound worse. "I'm fine Kara, just a few scratches, I still have range of motion and it doesn't hurt."

Kara scoffs and pokes the area around the wound at least two inches from the stitches. Alex yelps, jerking away from the prodding finger. "Yeah, it doesn't hurt Alex." The sarcasm is heavy and full of some deeper emotion.

Alex huffs, shoving Kara's pointy kryptonian finger away. "It does when people poke it!" Alex rubs at it then, soothing the burn. "Doctor Hamilton will start me on regeneration shots today once she's checked the stitches and i'll be fine."

Kara lets out a sigh, staring at the gauze. "Alex."

"I won't go out in the field today." Alex huffs, jaw tight, refusing to look at Kara and her tousled bed head and worried eyes. "I'm scheduled in the lab anyways."

Kara searches her face but nods. "Fine, but if you even think of going into the field i'll know."

Alex rolls her eyes but her lips twitch at the familiar determination in Kara's gaze. "I'll be fine."

Kara clenches her fists before they relax and her shoulders slump. "I know. I worry."

Alex pulls her into a hug, tucks her head under a too tense jaw and lets out a long suffering sigh into kryptonian warm skin. "Now you know how I felt when you went half-cocked after Reactron."

Kara stiffens, pulling back with wide eyes. "It's not the same, I'm-"

Alex lets out a low noise in her throat that stops Kara's words in their track before she speaks. "If you say indestructible I'll take you to the Green-room and run you into the ground." Kara's shoulders slump and she rolls her eyes but her lips twitch as if to grin, Alex takes that as a concession. "Go get dressed Space Cadet, you've got a job to get to."

Kara sighs, presses her forehead into Alex's uninjured shoulder, breathing in deeply before letting out a slow sigh. "Just. _Please_ Alex."

Alex rests the side of her head against Kara's. "I'll be in my lab all day, Konnor will be with me." Kara nods eyes still closed and pressed tightly against Alex and Alex looks over to the boy, still completely oblivious on the bed. Clutching at the blanket around him like a lifeline. "I'll be fine."

* * *

* * *

Kara is walking quickly down the street, heading for CatCo when her DEO issued earbud buzzes. "Supergirl."

Kara tilts her head, smile stretched across her face. "Vasquez?"

Kara can hear Vasquez chuckle over the call at Kara excitement. "Supergirl, you free?"

Her skin buzzes at the thought of a morning fly before work. "What do you got?"

"Bank robbery on ninth, two humans and an alien." Kara can hear the click of the keyboard over the call as Vazquez gather information. "Agents will meet you there to grab the alien before the NCPD can get them."

"On it." Kara is ducking from the hustle and bustle of seven in the morning foot traffic into an alley and stripping to her Supergirl suit in a twirl. Leaving her clothes on a roof and flying to ninth street. The wind whips around her and Vasquez is giving her the number of people in the bank and possible weaponry the robbers have.

She hits the concrete outside the bank, x-raying the building to find the alien, twitchy under layers of hoodies and pointing a glowing gun at one of the bank teller. There's only three other people in there beside the three robbers, a security guard that is unconscious, the bank teller held at gun point and another bank teller, trembling behind the other one. The late shift changing into morning. Supergirl breezes easily through the door, standing in front of the two bank tellers who tremble with fear. The gun hums and the alien, dark grey skin, black eyes and pheromones pouring out of it chirps at her nervously. _"Supergirl."_

"Gentlepersons." The two humans have their own guns, a shot gun and a pistol, aimed at her like they'll do damaged. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Let us leave with the money or the hostages get it!" One of the humans, a man, smelling of desperation hollers. His eyes are bloodshot and red rimmed under his mask, like he spent too long crying. She x-rays him. He has no needle mark of drug use on him, there is a hospital visitor bracelet on his left wrist. ICU access embolden on it. His clothes are wrinkled and reek of days old sweat. He's sweating just standing here, the epitome of human desperation.

The other human, a female, much younger, probably twenty something versus his going on fifty, is holding the shot-gun like it would turn on her. She's still gathering the money from the pried open drawers with her other hand, while the gun is still trained on Supergirl. The girl's heart is beating too fast to be normal, she has the same sunken look in her eyes, hidden under her mask. Desperation and fear. "We don't have time for this. Mundy take care of her!" Her voice is hoarse, either from previous screaming or crying. 

The alien chirps again and the gun begins to hum, Kara holds up her hands at the alien as the two bank tellers whimper and hide behind the desk they'd escaped to upon Supergirl's arrival. "You guys don't have to do this."

The girl lets out a hysterical laugh, the gun trembles in her hand as she looks up at the hero. "You know nothing Supergirl." The girl looks back down at the money as Mundy keeps the humming alien gun on the hero. The girl shows no fear in the face of a super-powered hero even as the alien, Mundy, chirps nervously.

"I know you don't want to hurt anyone." Kara dips her chin low, voice even and soothing. "I know you're doing this to pay for someone you care about. Someone that is in the hospital."

The girl stops and spins on her. "What do you know!" The shot gun shakes, clicking together and the alien, Mundy, chirps lowly at the girl. A language Kara hasn't learned. Alien. The girl grows more panicked at the aliens chirp. "Mundy, she'll stop us. We won't get the money in time." Her voice hardens. "Do it Mundy."

Kara lets out a soft sigh, can hear the DEO vans coming and the wail of Police sirens in the distance as the gun hums and Mundy chirps at her in it's native tongue before speaking in thick English. "I'm sorry."

Kara dodges the blast of energy from the gun, hot and explosive. Mundy's large grey arms don't even shudder under the force and Kara dodges around the next shot. The girl is still stuffing money in the bag while the man keeps his gun trained on the hostages. Supergirl zips over to Mundy, grabs the gun from his hands and shatters it under her fingers. Mundy lets out a wailing chirp before lunging at her. His fist connects with her stomach and it actually _hurts._  

Kara stumbles back, hand coming to her stomach as she glares at the other alien, he looks frantic and pheromones fill the air. The four humans hearts race and they grow even more desperate. Supergirl grabs the other guns swiftly, like she should have done when she first landed, snapping them in her hand as Mundy chases after her. She catches his fist and pulls it down as she brings her other fist up, half strength, to tap into his temple. Mundy falls without a sound, hitting the ground and the pheromones stop flooding the room. The humans calm down, but the girl is still frantically stuffing money into a bag. She makes to run for it when DEO comes bursting through the doors. They cuff the alien quickly and draw guns on the girl and the man. The girl drops the bag of money, tears falling down her face. They both fall to their knees, accept zip-ties to their wrists as the DEO hauls Mundy off into an SUV. The girl stares at the DEO agents that cart off Mundy the alien. "Don't hurt him. _Please."_  There guilt and fear in her eyes now.

The older man is silent as they sit him down on a chair, hands tied behind his back. The DEO agents clear the room quickly. Kara stares forlornly at the desperate humans. Hunter, a DEO agent, comes over to her. "Supergirl."

"Agent Hunter." She stares at the defeat on the would-be robbers faces, like their world had crashed around them. Crushed them. "They were desperate."

"Most people who rob banks are, we'll leave them for the cops. The alien is coming with us." His eyes dart around the room, finding the technicians picking up the pieces of the alien gun. "Good round up, R&D will have fun with reconstructing the gun though." His words are terse, typically the DEO liked having alien weaponry in tact. 

Kara scowls back at the man, clenches her jaw. "Thank you Agent Hunter."

Vasquez chortles over the line but gathers composure before speaking over the comms. "NCPD is on the way, get the alien and get out."

The other agents leave like they came, quickly and without sound. The SUV's are gone and Kara lets out a huff. "Didn't even thank me for the lack of causalities." She mumbles to herself before moving to kneel near the two robbers, the two bank tellers are still huddled around the desk, refusing to come out. "Can I know your names?"

The man is sobbing silently and the girl glowers at her. "You've killed her!" There's still that defeated set to her shoulders but now there's blind fury in her eyes. 

Kara's brow furrows. "I don't understand."

Tears are still streaming down the man's face and the girl looks about the same but so righteously angry. "The money was to save her and you killed her!"

Kara x-rays the girls left wrist, under her jacket like she had the man. There's the same bracelet there, ICU access. There's a name on it as well. _Isabel Justice._ "Isabel is sick?" The girl stiffens. "The money was to pay for her expenses?"

The man just sobs louder and the girl, no the woman, glowers at her in shock. "How do you know that?"

Kara eyes soften and her cape billows behind her despite kneeling down to speak to the two. "Sometimes we do whatever we can for family. Don't worry, everything will work out." The police come barreling through the door, guns drawn until they spot the two robbers zip tied and Supergirl.

Supergirl stands up slowly, letting the police take them into custody. There is a female detective, short with long dark hair and narrowed eyes that comes up to Kara before she can fly away. "Call in said there were three, where's the third?"

Kara shifts her feet, using the excuse the DEO agents always gave. "FBI took him."

The woman eyes Supergirl, the wrinkle in her forehead and the dart of her eyes. "Was he part of a bigger organization? Why didn't they take these two?"

Kara wide eyed and confused shrugs. "They didn't say?" Alex usually dealt with the police, flashing a badge when they came, letting Kara fly away before they could question her.

The detective's heartbeat is steady and her dark eyes narrow in suspicion. "You didn't check what they wanted?"

Kara back away slowly, attempting to lie to a woman who is far shorter than her but holds a stern facade. Like Kara was the one breaking the law. "I um. Well you see. I stop the crimes and let the police deal with imprisonment?" It's more question than anything and Kara winces, this is why Alex deals with the police.

The detective snorts, crosses her arms and hums. "And if it was an alien?"

Kara stiffens, loosing the rest her Supergirl confidence. "What-um. What?"

The detective narrows eyes, searching the superhero. "You letting aliens off the hook Supergirl?"

"What?! No!" Kara scowls, eyes narrowed, affronted that someone would think she'd let a criminal go, simply based on species. "The FBI took him."

The detective shifts on her feet, thoughtful before plowing forward with all the tact of a steamroller. "Sure it was the FBI Supergirl?"

Kara scowls. "They had the FBI jackets and everything. You're National City Police Department right?" She huffs as she motions to the NCPD jacket the woman's colleagues have on and then smiles, a bit awkwardly. "It was nice to meet you Detective, make sure they aren't treated too badly, they needed the money for a friend."

The detective lips twitch as if to smile but she frowns instead. "Doesn't mean they didn't break the law."

Kara winces, but her hands are still on her hips, shoulders pulled back, cape fluttering behind her. "That is true detective. Um bye. Hopefully we meet again?"

This time the detective does smile, dimple deepening across her cheeks, long hair billow behind her. She looks more amused and suspicious than anything. "Oh we will Supergirl."

Kara flies away quickly, muttering to herself. "That's not ominous at all." And the detective is still watching her fly away before asking for video footage.

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

Three days later Kara bounces around at work, having finally fixed Isabel Justice's problem. The woman was injured in a car crash at the hands of a drunk senator. Lucy had dealt out a suit against the man anonymously and left it to a colleague who worked well with pro-bono cases. Especially against corrupt lawyers and their high end clients. Kara's day is going brilliantly when Clark walks through her door, smiling at Kara like he hadn't run away from National City and Konnor as fast as he could after he finished his interviews more than two weeks ago. "I heard Lena Luthor is now in National City, Daily wants me to get a quote for my section."

Kara's staring at him, waiting for the ball to drop, Alex was still on Lab duty much to her chagrin and Konnor had been staying with Alex in the lab instead of Kara at CatCo. Thankfully it meant Konnor and Clark didn't need to interact today. "What about it?"

Clark grins, boyish and charming as ever as he leans against her desk. "I need an accompanying paper to come with me."

Kara furrows her brow, slides the weekly reports she'd been going over into a drawer. "But I'm not a reporter."

"No." He ducks his head, voice low despite them being alone in her office. "But _we_ need to assess Luthor and make sure she doesn't have any plans."

His eyes are slits, like just saying the name will bring disaster upon them and she huffs, done with everything already. Tired of the suspicion to a woman who spoke of family like it hurt, a woman who dropped all ties to the estranged members. "I'll walk you there." She could take an early lunch anyway, stop by to feed Alex and Konnor while she was at it. She and Clark walk to LCorp at a human pace, sun shinning on them and wind whipping at their hair. The breeze smells like food trucks and gasoline, there's the buzz of activity around them. The lunch rush of people one can almost get lost in.

Clark looks bright under the sun, eyes shining and he bumps into her shoulder teasingly when they both catch a whiff of the new Thai place down the block. It feels normal, feels like it does when she used to spend a weekend at his flat in Metropolis when he had the time, when they'd fly to the Fortress of Solitude and he would listen to her stories about Krypton. She can almost forget the wild look in his eyes as they walk down the street. Can almost forget the desperation he hated the Luthors with. At least until they come up to LCorp, then the wild look is back in his eyes. Like there was danger around every corner and he was the only one who saw it. It reminds her of Non's eyes, that same frantic darkness hiding in them. The same look Non had in his eyes before he was sent to Fort Rozz.

Kara gets a call from Cat as they walk into the building, moves to take it as Clark moves through the lobby, security guards eyeing them as they pass through the metal detectors. "Kara, _hurry."_ He's urgent and tense, like the building might explode or collapse around them.

"I'll be up in a second." She wiggles her ringing phone. "I need to take Miss Grant's call."

He grits his teeth but heads to the elevator, pressing the up button. "Hurry, and use x-ray." His voice is low, only for her ears, but so very tired and suspicious. The smiling man from outside is gone, replaced by suspicion and fear.

Kara presses the answer button and is immediately bombarded with Miss Grant's voice, suspicious and curious all at once. "Kara, _where_ are you?"

Kara tilts her head, listening to Clark get to one of the floors and exit the elevator. " _I'm here to see Miss Luthor."_

"At LCorp Miss Grant."

"Why ever would you be there?" She can hear the narrow of Cat's eyes in just her voice.

 _"Who are you, do you have an appointment?"_ The assistant sound suspicious, angry and protective.

 _"No, but its really very urgent, my name is Clarke Kent. Daily Planet wants an interview with her."_ She can hear his warm smile from here, that Kansas charm.

Kara leans against the wall, head tilted back. "Clark Kent stopped by for an interview, I don't think he'll get it so soon after the speech. Especially since she hasn't taken any other interviews Miss Grant."

Cat hums, Kara can hear the pen tapping against her lips. "No, I suspect not. Take notes on his techniques though, I want to know what he does, don't let him sweep a story out from under CatCo if he does get in."

 _"Sorry, Miss Luthor is busy today and is not taking any meetings. Especially ones that weren't scheduled."_ Kara can hear the dismissal in the assistant's voice, the click of a pen and scribble of writing as she goes back to what she was doing before.

Kara shakes her head, lips twitching, Clark always underestimated the assistants, thought Kansas charm would get him out of everything. It was amusing to watch her cousin flounder like his father always had in the council meetings. Familiar and nostalgic. "Of course Miss Grant, did your assistant get your lunch yet?"

"I fired the incompetence girl, she ground her teeth like it was her job." Cat sniffs disdainfully. "She also yelled at Whitt while he was working." Cat tsks. "I can't have her scaring off my employees, that's my job."

Kara's lips twitch at the slight protective nature to her boss. "Of course Miss Grant."

" _I'm sure if you just pop your head in and let her know i'm here she'll let me through."_ Clark sounds earnest but pushy, Kara shakes her head. Pushy never got anyone anywhere with assistants. Especially ones of high-powered CEO's.

 _"Leave Mr. Kent before I call security on you." T_ here is a hint of warning in her tone, threatening and so very protective. The woman has probably been with Lena Luthor through the worst of things. _"Today is not the day you will smear my boss."_

She can hear his grinding teeth from down here, doesn't even need to x-ray to see him. _"Of course not, have a good day."_

Kara shakes her head, Clark had wanted this more than anything today, he'll be tense and restless the rest of the day, like his father when the council would reject his views. "I'll pick up your lunch when I get mine Miss Grant, it seem Clark Kent didn't get his interview."

Cat chuckles lowly, Kara can hear her twirling a pen in her fingers. "How _dreadful."_  Her voice is entirely to gleeful. "Do hurry Kara, we've got layouts to discuss."

Kara smiles softly, shaking her head. "Of course, goodbye Miss Grant." Cat just hums before hanging up.

Clark hurries out of the elevator, scowling. "We'll sweep by tonight in our suits, see if she's up to anything." He's glowering at the building as they walk out.

Kara shrugs her shoulders, fingers griping her cardigan. "They're working on setting up here Clark. Trying to do better." She can understand that need, felt it herself when she learned the truth of her mother, the truth to her aunt's disappearance and the destruction of Krypton.

"She's a _Luthor,_ she has something planned, you'll see Kara." His eyes are dark, darker than she'd ever seen them. Wild and desperate. Something aches in her chest at that.

* * *

Kara stops by the DEO before she needs to get hers and Miss Grant's lunch and meet the CEO for layouts. Konnor is in the sunbed sleeping, recharging after testing his limits with Alex and J'onn in the Green Room. Kara drops lunch from Chicago down on the table. "Kal needed one more CEO for his big paper, he attempted to interview Lena Luthor."

Alex snorts as she looks up from her paperwork. "How'd that go?" Alex's eyes widen when she spots the paper bag, she grabs it without hesitation, setting Konnor's wrapped food on the table for the boy when he woke up. "Thanks Kar." Alex grins.

Kara leans against the table, smiling softly as Alex digs into the sandwich. "The assistant turned him away point blank, they were working on merging the systems and flushing out the bad seeds from what I could tell." Kara rolls her eyes, shrugging her shoulders in good nature ribbing. "Kal likes to get in the way."

Alex tilts her head, lips pursed. "Really? I didn't think he would."

"Alex." Kara huffs.

Alex sighs, clenching her jaw. "You and Konnor come first, i'm not going to stop disliking him because you ask me too." Alex's face is taut with determination and defiance, Kara recognizes that look from nights spent watching Alex defend her and argue with Eliza. "He's hurt you too many times and now he's hurt Konnor."

Kara's shoulders drop. "I know, but he's family." She looks up at Alex, fingers twisting into her cape. "You forgive family."

"And when do you stop? When have they gone to far?" Alex looks raw, like shes asking about more than just Clark going too far with his beliefs.

Kara drops her head, sighing, and there is the festering in her chest. The one they've yet to talk about. The one they can't seem to bring up again despite the promises to talk about it. "I don't know Alex." They both look conflicted and so defeated.

* * *

* * *

Fate seems to have plans as Kara ends up meeting Lena at the coffee shop later that day after work when she's grabbed Konnor from the DEO and left Alex to the lab work while the two aliens grab a mid afternoon snack. Konnor is stuffing his face with sticky buns and glowering at her when she laughs at his smudged face, moving to get the last order before they head home to change clothes. Kara bumps into Lena, spilling Lena's coffee all over a table. "Oh Rao! I'm so sorry." Blue eyes stare into Lena's green before Kara drops napkins over the spill with a familiarity born of spilling way too many things. "Hey, you're Lena Luthor right?" And Kara knows that answer, Lena had saved Alex. Shot the man without hesitation and Kara will owe her for that.

Lena stiffens and nods, thankfully not recognizing Kara with her glasses and twisted bun. Kara holds out her hand, shuffling the tablet to the crook of her elbow and her phone to her other hand as she does so, coffee precariously balanced in a way Kara can only manage. Lena shakes it warily, hiding behind a professional fake smile, suspicion in her green eyes as she shakes Kara's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too!" Kara grins with ease. Konnor comes over from Kara's shoulder, tense and wary, having finished his food and searching for Kara in the noise.

"Kara." He's gruff edges again, nervous with new people despite Kara's exuberance.

Kara beams at him. "Konnor, did you call Alex?" He shrugs, shoulders curved. Lena is staring at him like she has seen a ghost. Kara furrows her brow, tilting her head to the side as the blood seems to drain from Lena Luthor's face "Are you okay?"

"Yes, sorry." Lena hands tremble before she blinks her eyes and that emotion, what looked like heartbreak and something else, is gone. "He just looks like someone I knew." Lena turns away from Konnor and the too familiar shape of his nose and the arch of his brows. "Anyway, it was a pleasure to meet you both, but I have a meeting to get to."

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Kara presses the coffee she ordered before running into the CEO, into Lena's hand. "Here, since I spilled yours and everything."

Lena shakes her head, moves to step back as her fingers tighten on the cup to keep it from falling when the blonde releases it. "You don't need t-"

Kara laughs, shoves her glasses up. "It's no problem, I should watch where I'm walking."  Konnor huffs, shifting his feet, he narrows his eyes when Lena turns to look at him. Kara shakes her head. "Konnor." There's a tone in her voice, something that makes him dip his chin in guilt.

"Sorry." He says gruffly, looking up at the woman who shared the same last name with the other man that he shared DNA with. "It's nice to meet you Ma'am. Kara, can we go? Alex promised to let me pick tonight." And he's twitching excitement and nerves.

"Yeah, lets go Kon. Bye Miss Luthor, sorry about the coffee." Kara grins at her, picking up the soiled napkins and throwing them in the trash as she leads Konnor down the street, Lena staring after them with confused wide eyes, a too hot coffee in her hand.

* * *

* * *

J'onn pulls Alex into his office the second Kara has taken Konnor out to eat. _Again._  Kryptonian hunger and metabolism are a thing of envy. "Any word on our leads?" Alex is leaning against the wall of Hank's office, arms crossed as he turns on the usual to stop anyone from listening in on them.

J'onn shakes his head, moving to sit at his desk, paper strewn all around it. Disorderly in a way he has never been, there's new lines around his eyes. "Colonel Harper hasn't had contact with CADMUS since I shifted his memories."

"So they know?"

He chews on his cheek, thinking before speaking. Always so thorough. "They either suspect or they're punishing him for his failure to bring in you and I when they had us."

Alex stiffens, blood humming. "General Lane?"

J'onn shakes his head. "Knows nothing of the other side of CADMUS."

She lets out something between a scoff and a snort. "That you know of."

J'onn sighs, rubbing at his forehead. "Alex."

She huffs, presses her back against the wall, she's not at attention when it's just them. Her perfect soldier persona disappears when they are alone. "I don't trust him, there's no way he wouldn't know whats going on under his nose J'onn."

"I've skimmed his mind." He rubs at his temples like he has a headache coming. "I've yet to find anything about CADMUS."

Alex's jaw tenses but she nods sharply.  "And the mole?"

"They're very good at shielding their thoughts. I can't find them without tipping them off." His shoulders drop and he looks far more tired than when they had been on the run. "Vazquez has yet to flush them out as well. They're smart. We're setting up baits for them when the time comes."

There a set to his jaw and a flash in his eyes that set her on edge, that makes the hair on her neck stand on end and question him harshly. "And what is the _bait?"_

He's quiet for a few seconds but meets her gaze head on, without remorse and determined. "Kryptonite."

 _"J'onn."_ Alex is tense and too angry.

"It will be diluted, impure." He's trying to sooth, yet he is all commands. Every bit of leader he needs to be.

"They can purify it!" Alex's brain is already flying through calculations, through notes that had been made when Lord had made the red kryptonite and she had made the blue. Of who had access to that while she was on the run. "If they liquefy it they'll have a chance to go after her."

"They won't get away with it, its a bait truck for a reason." J'onn stares at her with empathy, like he can understand her panic, and maybe he can. "We'll tell certain people for every bait until we get the mole."

She shakes her head, temple throbbing at the force she's clenching her jaw. "I don't like it." 

"I know." He is soothing, every-bit of caring man she's come to know over the last year. "But we have a building now and we'll get the mole soon."

Flags go up in her mind and she stands at attention, pulling away from the wall in preparation. "A building?"

"CADMUS ties, Monroe in SATS discovered it, a blank spot on the map. You'll be leading a team in there." His lips are pursed and he doesn't look happy. "You and I are the only ones who've been to CADMUS facilities." They both think to their time on the run from CADMUS, following trails and thoughts to find her father. "The only ones who know what to look for. I can't risk being away on a mission. CADMUS will be too happy to move when i'm gone, we have to be _cautious_  Alex."

"And my injury?" She tense, excited, it had been three days days of no field duty since fighting the guy at Luthor's speech and this was a break in CADMUS. A way to get information about her father, about Konnor, and about CADMUS.

Hank scowls but lets out a resigned sigh. "You passed the field test. Your wound is healing along the parameters with the reconstructive drugs." He huffs. "Physically there is no reason to hold you back."

She nods, relieved and already planning an attack, racing through tactics. "Two teams going in?"

"Yes, you'll strike in the night." He doesn't look happy about this, but he's been director for ten years for a reason. "We don't want them to know we're coming."

She licks her lips and says the words that are on the tip of her tongue and mind. "And Supergirl?"

"Assuming CADMUS will be after what they've lost, he'll need protection when we raid the building." Alex relaxes and J'onn huffs and presses on. "She will not like sitting out of the fight when she finds out."

"They have my dad, they're most likely after Konnor." There's a shear determination that bleeds from her, that presses against J'onn's thoughts despite him not searching her mind. Projecting. "No way in hell are they getting her."

He lets out a low sigh, rubbing at his head. "Alex."

She clenches her jaw, before forcing the words they both knew she had been chewing on. "Can we just agree to keep her away from CADMUS?"

He shakes his head, leaning back in his chair and eyeing her with something like sympathy. "I can't promise that and you know she won't like that. We'll need her on some of the missions. Sooner or later."

Alex is all tense muscles and fear. "I don't want them getting her J'onn. I can't." The words catch in her chest and if it was anyone but J'onn Alex wouldn't be showing this emotion. Especially not at work. "I can't lose her. They took my dad, they won't get her. I'll die before they get her."

"That's what i'm worried about." He runs a hand over his head again, worn out and worried. "I want you cautious on this mission."

"I'm always cautious, I get the job done. I get my team out alive." She's tense, eyes wide and something like betrayal in her eyes. Another parent disappointed with her.

He sighs, able to read her even without looking into her mind. "You were hurt on the last mission, that is what I meant by cautious. I never doubt that you will get your team out alive, I worry that _you_ won't get out alive Alex."

Alex scoffs, shakes her head and stiffens her muscles until she's standing at attention. "I'll be fine. My team has my back."

"When you let them." J'onn is meeting her gaze with his own, almost like he can predict the future and he isn't judging her, but nearly begging her. "When you stop _mothering_ them."

A soft sound escape from her throat. "J'onn."

"I understand the need to make sure everyone gets home alright Alex, believe me I do." And he looks like she had when she was leaving Kara behind and driving off with him to escape CADMUS, worried and putting on a brave face. "But everyone includes you as well. Don't make us bury you."

Alex is all slumped shoulders, tense jaw and utter confusion "I can't promise that. I won't let my team die." She won't let another family go through what she went through, not when she can stop it. Doesn't even think about what it'd mean if her family was the one left in the dust.

"And that's what makes you a good leader, but a good leader knows sacrifice." She stares at him, tight jaw and wide eyes as he cracks everything out from under her. "Sometimes sacrifices have to be made. Not everyone can be saved."

Alex's chest shudders and her voice warbles. "I know sacrifice J'onn."

"You know loss Alex." And they both think to her father, to her childhood and he sounds as grief stricken as she looks. "Loss is a choice made for you, sacrifice is a choice you make."

"I have sacrificed _everything_ to the DEO." Everything cracks, her voice, her eyes and J'onn's heart. "I have done everything I could and _more."_

His eyes are haunted as he stares at Alex. "I know, but one of these days there will be a choice to make."

She looks up sharply and there is a sharpness to her gaze that would make most people tremble. "I have no doubt what I'll choose."

"And that's what worries me." His face is unusually soft, full of pain and understanding.

She darts her eyes to the side, pulls in a deep breath. "When does the team leave?"

"We'll go over planning today and tomorrow." He motions to a stack of papers he had to draw up for the mission. "You leave at 20:00 tomorrow, how's your shoulder?" They both ignore the elephant in the room for now.

She rotates her shoulder lifting them, hiding any pain easily. "Fine, stiff but i'll have Dr. Hamilton pump more regenerative drugs into it. I'll be perfectly fine for the mission."

He scowls. "Let her clear you first."

Alex clenches her jaw but calmly speaks. "And if I don't lead?"

"Johnson will lead." Alex scowls at him, and he lets out a weary sigh. "Get your physical done and have the doctor send me the results, then eat something _without_ grease Alex. Enjoy your night with your family." There's a caring look in his eyes that forces her to nod and head to Medical, after grabbing an apple of course.

* * *

* * *

They'd set up a weekly family outing, ready to alternate between who chooses what and where they did the family outing. Tonight was Konnor's choice, the boy had been excited about it all day, having sneakily gotten Alex to give him first pick tonight over the phone. The agent had agreed too easily, still guilty over putting the look of anguish in his eyes three nights ago. And Konnor had searched the internet with Winn's help the day before, found something he wanted to do and ran the idea by Kara. Kara had laughed far too gleefully and a little manically. Konnor had been confused but excited, Alex didn't find out until Kara was pushing a coat into her arms and shoving Alex into the car that night after finding out that Alex's shoulder was nearly as good as new. There was a delighted sparkle in Kara's eyes that set Alex on edge and as they rolled up to the building Alex held back a groan of dismay. 

Konnor had chosen indoor ice skating, free for those under thirteen, full of screaming children, laughing scrambling parents and teenagers on dates. It is loud but Kara and Konnor both look happy, Alex is of course bundled in a coat and nerves. Konnor is flailing limbs until he gets the hang of it, he stumbles once or twice before gliding across the ice like he'd been born on it. He easily maneuvers around the small children, zipping between crowds and laughing at the look on Alex's face. Kara is gliding around easily, elegant and grinning widely at Alex. Alex just holds onto Kara scarf, being pulled behind the kryptonian and refusing to go alone despite Kara's laughter and Konnor's ribbing. He looks far too happy with himself, Kara as well. "You remember the last ice skating incident Kara." Is the response the blonde's laughter gets her.

Kara snorts, shaking her head. "I don't know how you can be so good on a surfboard and so _bad_ on skates." Kara spins easily, dragging a cursing Alex behind her as she laughs again, Konnor zips by them again, a small gaggle of children chasing him as he laughs, loud and happy. They both grin as they watch him fly by them before a child bumps into Alex.

Alex barely manages to stay upright, glowering at the grinning kryptonian dragging her. "Different concepts Kara. Completely different."

Kara tilts her head back to look at the flailing agent, raising a thin eyebrow, blue eyes sparking with amusement. "Surfing is harder."

Alex snorts, tightening her grip on Kara's scarf as the blonde speeds up slightly, Alex's knees are bent low and leg spread wide for balance. She looks like a baby duck learning to waddle as she focuses on speaking and skating, at the same time. "There's a wide board under my feet, its a hell of a lot easier than balancing on two _thin_ blades."

"But you have waves coming at you and under you." And Kara speeds up again, dragging Alex behind her much to the agents chagrin, Kara just grins wider. "A lot harder."

Alex shakes her head, knuckles white against Kara's red scarf. The kryptonian only wearing it for appearances in the cold arena and for Alex. "Lets agree to disagree here Kara." Alex grounds out through clenched teeth.

Kara snorts, reaching for Alex's free hand as she turns to skate backwards, elegant even when she faces Alex. "I thought we never agreed to disagree." Alex scowls but clings to Kara's hand instead of the scarf. "That it was conceding defeat."

Alex lets out a groan, squeezes Kara hand and opens her mouth to speak when Konnor zips by them again, this time grabbing at Kara's fluttering scarf and Alex's sleeve. He yanks them along behind him, spinning Kara around the right way, careful with Alex though. Kara easily keeps up with his brutal pace and Alex lets out a yelp of shock, hands scrabbling to grab onto Kara's again as Konnor laughs and pulls them along. His eyes are bright, cheeks flushed and he looks happy. Like gliding on the ice is as good as flying. Kara is bright eyed and laughing as Alex scrambles to keep hold on the kyrptonian and keep her feet from flying out from under her at the swift pace Konnor cuts across the ice. They're happy and Konnor looks like the weight of the world finally fell off his shoulders, he looks free. He looks like a teenager, carefree and happy.

* * *

* * *

The sun is shining, Konnor is with Winn. Alex having to debrief in the boardroom and Winn having the day off from CatCo. The boy had been more than happy to have Winn over to the apartment, eyes bright as Winn brought his gaming systems, and extra controllers. Lots of extra controllers. Kara is happily scribbling on a page at work. The day would be over soon and she could be home soon to show Winn and Konnor up. After an evening snack she would patrol as Supergirl, leaving Winn and Konnor to argue over what to have for dinner before Alex came home and the night would be full of laughter and family and she happily plans it out as she marks errors on the page in front of her. But Clark barrels into her office and the plans for the day change before her very eyes. "Kara."

"Clark?" Kara looks up from editing the editors page, Cat having shoved her to work on another part of CatCo, searching for a home to place the blonde.

Clark looks excited, like the first time she had went flying with him in her suit. Like they were blood once and for all. "I've got a meeting set up at LexCorp today." 

Kara furrows her brow, Alex had opened her eyes to Kal-El ways and this desperation he had against the Luthors was rearing its head. "It's LCorp now Clark."

His eyes are dark again, and he sighs softly, like she's still thirteen and confused. Like she can't see the danger he sees. "I need you to come with me okay? Two sets of x-ray are better than one. You can look around while I interview her."

"Clark." She stiffens, staring at him in shock. "That's an invasion of _privacy."_

He scoffs, shakes his head, dark eyed and desperate. "Nothing is private when it comes to Luthors Kara." He staring at her in something like disappointment, her chest aches.

"I'll ask Miss Grant, I have a job her Clark." Her fingers tighten on her pen. "I can't just run off when you ask me too."

He snorts and taps her shoulder, that boyish charm back. The dark look in his eyes gone. "You leave all the time as _Supergirl,_ just have Jimmy cover for you like he normally does."

Kara grits her teeth, leaving for Supergirl related reason had always made Miss Grant suspicious. She had been keeping her leaving on the down low, hoping to keep Miss Grant off the scent of Supergirl. Now that she had her own office and made her own schedule it was much easier to sneak out and save the day but Miss Grant was like a dog with a bone. "I'll be back Clark."

She rushes down to Miss Grant office, lips pursed even as she walks through the glass doors, Cat looks up with sharp eyes, like she had been expecting Kara. "I hear you have a farm-boy in your office."

"He was stopping by to see James before he went to LCorp." Her voice is too tense to be truthful and Cat waits it out, tapping her fingers on her desk and Kara plows on, hands moving erratically. "He wants me to accompany him to the interview."

"He is another paper in our territory, he'll need an escort." Cat taps her lips with her pen. "Probably thinks because you're not a reporter, and far too nice, that he'll get away with this scoop. Follow him around Kara, He's Lois's boy and Daily Planet's reporter, I don't want him stealing any prime scoops." Cat grins. "This is good, everyone but you is _enamored_ with his small-town charm, he probably thinks you'll be enamored as well." Kara winces in disgust. Miss Grant waves her hand dismissively, teeth wide like a grinning shark. "Chop chop."

* * *

 

They walk again and it is like yesterday, the sun shining on them, giving them its strength, but this time Clark isn't grinning at her and bumping into her shoulder. He doesn't smile with the same ease. He looks troubled and scared and some part of Kara wants to fly him away from the danger, get him to talk and help him through his pain. He is her cousin, her baby cousin. She changed his diapers on Krypton, molded a statue together for his name-day, presented it to his parents and vowed to protect him. And here she was walking with her baby cousin who was now older than her, far more jaded than he had the right to be and terrified that the world would fall out from under his feet. She was meant to take care of him but he was grown, and her purpose was lost. He tried, tried to fill a role he knew nothing about, but his Kryptonian was rough, his beliefs those of Earth and his justice system those of Earth and he left her to what he had had known growing up. He was more human than kryptonian and every reminder of that ached. He wasn't her baby cousin, he wasn't someone she need to hold close and protect, but he was her blood and he needed her to fight with him. So she marches with him to LCorp, despite his short-sighted beliefs, despite his loud declarations that because of a name and blood you were as guilty as the accused, he was her family. 

He marches like they're on the battlefield, like their capes are billowing behind them, there is not smile on his face until they open the door. He stumbles into it but catches himself quickly. His smile is charming and almost real as they ride up the elevator with the security guard. He grins at the assistant, Kara smiles to, less wide and far more real. The assistant glares at Clarke but purses her lips but waves him through, apparently LCorp had designated today for interviews with reporters, despite the assistants protests.

Lena looks up as the door closes behind them. "How can I help you?"

Clarke smiles, teeth flashing. "Daily Planet wants an interview."

She nods, standing to greet them. "Clark Kent." She eyes him with hidden suspicion before she meets Kara's gaze, there a flicker of shock then pained acceptance. " And Kara?"

Kara leans forward, smiling, wiggling her fingers before offering her hand to shake. "Danvers. It's nice to see you again."

Clarke stiffens, looking between them as Lena speaks. "I didn't see your name on the reporters list."

Kara laughs, shifting her feet and shoving her glasses up her nose. "Oh, I'm not a reporter."

Lena narrows her eyes, leaning back against her desk, crossing her arms. "Could have fooled me." Still professional but suspicious as she shrugs. "The coffee shop bump."

 _"Oh."_ Kara laughs, shaking her head and grinning bashfully. "That was a complete accident, Konnor and I were getting a snack and waiting on Alex to get off work."

Clark almost scowls, almost loses his aw shucks smile. _"He's_ met Miss Luthor?" And there was a familiar shine of steel in his eyes.

Kara stares at him, narrows her eyes at the man who refused to speak to Konnor but seemed to want to dictate who he spoke to. "Yes, why?"

Clark makes a noise in his chest, disappointed. "Nothing."

Kara scowls at him. "Clark." Her voice is steel, harder than even his was, Lena looking between them.

Lena's lips twitch, she doesn't know their relationship, but she can read the suspicion on Clark easily. Somehow the two were connected, three if you included the boy with Kara yesterday, the one that was all nerves and tense words. Calling her ma'am like she was old and weary. "You don't want the boy to meet the Big Bad Luthor?" Her lip pulls into a snarky grin but her eyes are somber, wrinkles around them. Hidden to all but Kara.

Kara shakes her head. "I'm sure that not what he meant."

Lena shake her head, chuckling self-depreciatively. "No, everyone knows how Clark Kent felt about my brother. I just hope he doesn't hold my brother's wrongdoings against me."

"Of course not." Clarke mumbles. "Lets start the interview."

Kara watches them, shifting her feet. Clark is like a dog with a bone, refusing to wait and let Lena gather her thoughts. He questions her about Lex more than the company. Questions more about Metropolis than National City. They finish and Clark heads out the door, storming almost, leaving Kara behind in his haste to leave and get back to Metropolis. To gather his suspicions and facts and mold them to find out what Lex is planning next. Kara huffs. "I'm sorry about him."

"I've learned women should stop apologizing for men's attitudes." Lena smiles softly from where she leans against her desk, her shoulders slump the minute Clark is out of view, eyes far more tired than a woman her age needs to be. "Did CatCo get what they needed?"

Kara shakes her head, shoves her glasses up her nose again. "Oh, no, i'm not writing a story, he needed a mediator and i'm the only one from CatCo he knew."

Lena quirks an eyebrow high, skeptical. "James Olsen?"

"Busy, and Miss Grant didn't quite trust Clark to be." Kara purses her lips and Lena waits. _"Impartial."_ Kara hurries along, shoving past the awkwardness Clark had left behind. "But I am sorry about him. And the coffee." Kara fiddles with her glasses. "Total accident, I was just. Really happy to meet you, you're fighting for something other than your name's shortcomings." It was more than that, but Kara just shrugs and grins, unable to convey the gratitude of Alex being alive and well. "It's nice."

Lena blinks before her lips pull into a grin. "I misread you Kara Danvers."

Kara laughs, pushing her glasses back up her nose as they slip down. "Most people do. Have a good day and good luck."

Lena looks properly shocked but nods, something bright in green eyes. "Thank you Kara Danvers."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I kidnapped a line from Tomb Raider, that line always seemed to stick with me and that game was amazing. Thank you all for reading!:)


	5. Smoke Clouds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took far longer to edit and piece together than I thought it would, and its longer than I thought it would be, but enjoy. Thank you for reading.:)

Kara and Alex lean against the counter, watching Konnor as he solves one of the larger Rubik's cubes, legs splayed out in front of him as he sits on the floor. There's five broken ones to his left and a completely solved one to his right, very slight finger indention in the complete one. "Clark went back to Metropolis and Winn has plans tonight."

Alex leans into Kara's side, arching an eyebrow. "And?"

Kara rolls her eyes, nudging Alex with her elbow gently. "We didn't discuss doing anything tonight. I was wondering what we had planned, if you wanted to do anything."

Alex winces, rubbing at the back of her neck. "I have the twenty four hour shift in the lab, new enzymes that deteriorate quickly."

Kara snorts, shaking her head but butting her shoulder into Alex's. "Okay, have fun with your rudimentary science."

"Oh shut up." Alex shoves Kara shoulder away, rolling her eyes, all in good nature. "Not all of us were from a technologically advanced society."

Konnor eyes them with confusion, fingers barely holding onto the cube in his hands so as not to crush this one like he had the others. "What're you talking about?"

Kara smiles, ruefully and a little bit nostalgic. "Krypton was more advanced than Earth, more advanced than most societies in the galaxies."

"And arrogant too, aren't you Supergirl?" Alex says teasingly, easing the words with her grin and long thin fingers brushing across Kara's kryptonian warm palm. "The first year we had to tame the arrogant kryptonian princess, teach her our _humble_ earthling ways."

Kara rolls her eyes but her cheeks flush and her fingers curl around Alex's as she scoffs out at Alex. "Humble."

Konnor tilts his head curiously, setting the cube down so he doesn't crush it accidentally. "You were a princess?"

"No I wasn't." Kara glares at a smirking Alex, bumping shoulders with her again. "I was daughter of a Judicar and head scientist."

Alex shakes her head. "She's down playing Konnor, the House of El was one of the greater houses of Krypton."

Kara nudges Alex none to gently against her hip, forcing the human to bump into the counter. "You'll give him a big head Alex."

"Why don't you show him. You can pick up Alura's AI and bring her here for him." Kara snorts but shakes her head and Alex's lower lip twitches slightly, there's something hidden in her eyes that neither of the two aliens catch. "Why not the Fortress then? Show him Krypton."

Kara's lips twitch and the muscles tighten around her mouth before she finally lets herself smile. "Sounds like a plan, sure you don't want company tonight though?"

Alex shakes her head in the negative, pressing a kiss to Kara cheek as she lets go of her hand, moving to grab her messenger bag from the side table. "Sorry, but I actually need to get work done tonight."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Kara sounds affronted but her eyes are bright and she moves over to Konnor to nudge him.

He almost falters under her nudge, hand pressing into the floor to keep himself sitting upright, looking up to glare at Kara as he carefully moves a Rubik's Cube away from her feet, knowing she'd accidentally crush it if he didn't. He narrows his eyes at them both, missing a social cue he had no idea was there. "What's going on?"

Kara bumps her knee into his shoulder gently. "Alex thinks we're distracting when she's working."

Konnor shrugs. "I ask many questions and you pace. A lot." His shoulders hunch slowly and he looks up at them, full of caution and worry. "Is that not okay?"

Alex sighs lowly, walking forward to stand next to them. "It is perfectly fine Konnor, I was just teasing you both. You can ask as many questions whenever you want and Kara can pace a hole in the floor for all I care."

"Okay." And his shoulders relax and he filters through the conversation again. "What is this Fortress you speak of?"

Alex grins, there's something of relief in it that he can't place. "And that's my cue to go, Konnor I hope you have an iron stomach with Kara's flying here." She kisses Kara's cheek again and pats at her broad shoulders, laughing as she dodges the purposefully slow jab Kara aims at her ribs. She ruffles Konnor's hair gently, knuckles smoothing over his temple before she grins at them both, walking towards the door. "Love you! See you guys in the morning." She ducks out the door, grabbing the keys to her motorcycle.

Konnor sits stunned for a second and Kara lets him have the silence he needs to pull his thoughts together. She gathers a bag full of food to last the night as well as a few blankets and shoves them into the day pack Alex always has handy, already plotting the route to the Fortress.

* * *

* * *

Alex finishes the last strap to her vest, holding her hands out to let them shake with nerves before she clenches them into a fist, drawing in a deep breath. Cunnignham eyes her. "You okay?"

She release the fist and her hands are steady now. "Fine, the others ready?"

"Waiting in the vans." He tilts his head to the side, eyeing her curiously. "We debriefed yesterday, we know the plan."

She huffs, grabbing her weapon and checking over it. The others had gotten ready when she had been on her way over. "I know you do, just checking."

"How's your shoulder?"

She scowls at him, the man an ever present worrier. "The same as Underwood's knee."

Cunnignham rolls his eyes but follows her as they make their way to the transport vans. Johnson driving one and Elaine, the point for the second team, driving the other. J'onn is calm in her ear, ordering the vans to leave. Junle remarks when to turn and how long to drive over the comms as they sit in silence. Johnson taps his fingers against the steering wheel as he drives. Jamin tapping her feet in the back, periodically clicking her thumb against her gun in nerves. 

Darío is still behind Alex, quiet where the others fidget. Steady and calm as ever while Underwood grumbles under her breath, trying to stretch her legs out in the back. After a twenty minute ride of silence Johnson kills the headlights and the other van does as well. Johnson flips on the night-vision on his helmet to see. They drive for a few more miles before he stops and cuts off the engine. "Jamin search for heat signatures." Alex says as they carefully get out of the van. "Surveillance until my order." They crouch down behind some broken debris, Alex twisting her fingers to the left so the second team crouches over there. Jamin searches carefully. "Only two, right next to each other. The second one is hot though. Hotter than even Supergirl."

Alex furrows her brow, tilting her head to Jamin. "Alien?"

"Maybe." Jamin murmurs, bright hair hidden under her helmet as she furrows her brow, fingers tightening on the small machine she holds in her hand. "Here, look."

Alex grabs the machine Jamin always holds dearly, looking at the screen. A steady regular range of heat in the shape of a human body and then a blob of heat next to it. "It's too hot. Look at how it moves." They eye it for a second and Alex grits her teeth. "Dammit."

Johnson stiffens. "What?"

"It's a fire, either it's a squatter seeking heat or CADMUS is burning what they left behind after a tip off." Alex hands the machine back to Jamin, turning to look at the second squad across from them. "Kellogg, any defenses?"

"None, no electricity there." He leans against the concrete his squad was hiding behind. "It's dark, has been for days."

"Then they know we're coming, get ready on my count." She holds up her hand and with stiff motions counts down and races to the doors with her squad as quick as she can. Johnson and Underwood yank the door open after the anti-lock device glows green, everyone crouched low as they look through the doors. Nothing happens as they move around through the building, computers are smashed beyond recognition, like someone had taken a bat to them. "He was in the center of the building, head that way."

They split into teams of three, Underwood and Johnson on Alex's flank. The doors are eerily left open and they clear each room quietly and efficiently before they come to a lab. There's smashed beakers and coolers tipped over. "Johnson, get a sample for me. Underwood on my tail."

Johnson grabs what is needed and hurries after Alex and Underwood. Jamin calls over the comms, voice low and full of caution. "Heat sigs just jumped up. He's building a pretty big fire."

"Get samples from any lab you come across, papers, anything, get it but watch your back. We do this as planned." Alex hurries to the center of the building, half of squad two meeting up with them as the hallways converge together. There is a resounding boom and then the building shudders all around them. "Dammit! Move now!" Alex runs forward, her people at her heels.

"Fires all over the place now Danvers!" Jamin voice is tinged in anger.

"Put them out, get what you can from the building before they burn it all!" Alex leads those following her into the main room, bursting through the doors.

"There's accelerant Danvers!" Jamin coughs out over the comms as her part of the team fights to put them out and salvage what they can.

Alex and the squad following her draw their guns on the man standing in the middle of the room, a fire blazing in front of him. "Danvers? I recognize that name, the uniforms too. DEO right?" The man looks too smug, head tilted back and smiling at them despite the guns on him. Fires burn all around him now, a lone CADMUS soldier against six DEO agents.

"Squad two, put the fires out now!" Alex keeps her gun steady, aiming directly at the man's chest. "YOU! Hand on your head and down on your knees." The three members of squad two hurriedly put out the large fire before racing to help the other put out the rest and salvage what they can through-out the rest of the building.

The man grins, wide and too white, hands at his side, standing tall despite the weapons aimed at him. "Why? I've no weapons, i'm no danger to you am I Alexandra Danvers?" Alex stiffens and he tilts his head to the side, dark hair falling away from even darker eyes. "You have your father's eyes." 

Alex rounds on him, pressing the gun to his chest, her people stiffen. "Where is he?!" Low and deadly, full of barely held together rage.

The man in front of her chuckles lowly. "He never got this angry though. How would he feel watching you wave a gun around? He was always such a _pacifist."_ And he spits the word out like an insult.

"Where is my father?" The gun jabs into his chest again and Alex barely has a handle on her rage, pushing the twisting edges of it down, trying to stay calm and level headed like she was trained.

Johnson leans forward, wary. "Alex." 

"Stand down!" Alex barks out at Johnson. He stiffens but nods.

The man smirks at them. "Now now, where are your manners? A please wouldn't kill you would it?" Alex grits her teeth and Underwood is already behind the CADMUS soldier, kicking his knee, forcing him to kneel as she moves to cuff his hands behind him. She is tense, eyes on Alex's gun, wary of the way Alex's eyes are dark and the way this man refuses to be cowed even on his knees. "After all, begging saved your father's life."

Alex lets out an inhuman sound, moving forward with years of pent up rage and anguish. Underwood stumbles back just in time to get out of the way of Alex's tackle. The man lets out a grunt of pain as the wind is knocked out of him and Johnson has Alex's gun in his hands, the agent having dropped it in her rage. Underwood stares wide eyed as Alex slams her knee into his ribs and an elbow into his cheek. Johnson and Underwood are the only two to witness this, the others survey the building as told, but the comms are alive with activity at the sounds of the fight. J'onn calling for status report while Underwood and Johnson stare at their leader is conflict and shock.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

"So this is the Judicar building, my mom spent most of her time here." Kara waves her hand over one of the taller buildings, they'd been here for two hours already. Kara showing him what she could of Krypton, and Kelex hovering around, happy to serve the next generation of the House of El.

Konnor is staring at the spires of Krypton with wide eyes, taking in everything with an awe she had once hoped Kal would show for Krypton. "And that one?" He points to a far shorter spire, slightly more robust but just as beautiful as the others. 

"The military offices." Kara remembers following her aunt into that building when she was home from a mission, listening to her recount the way the different suns made worlds look. How three moons looked late at night. It makes something deep inside of Kara ache. "Recruits were brought there, but they stayed in barracks at the far side of Argo City."

"You said that Krypton was peaceful." He leans forward, ever curious yet always cautious. "Why did they need military?"

Kara sits down on the floor slowly, letting the holograph filter between pictures of Argo City now instead of Krypton and it spire buildings. "Krypton was peaceful. We would rather use peace, our words, over aggression, brute strength." She lets out a soft sound. "But we were an advanced race. Our technology was greater, our mining sought after. Krypton had to protect itself so they had the Military Guild."

"Did they stay on Krypton permanently?" And he looks at Kara how she used to look at her aunt Astra; full of awe, love and an un-satiable curiously. Blue eyes so impossibly wide and earnest with their thirst for information.

"No, they traveled the galaxies, helping where they were needed." Kara's fingers twitch, easily calling forth pictures from other galaxies. "We had many alliances where our military forces were traded for supplies."

"Oh." And he's quiet for a while, thoughtful before he looks up again. "How many guilds were there?"

Kara smiles softly, nostalgic. "Five. Though their names have changed over time." Her heart throbs in pain but there's a bitter-sweetness to it, to be able to share her culture with someone else, someone of kryptonian blood who was actually interested in learning. "The original five were Warrior Guild, Thinker Guild, Laborer Guild, Artisan Guild and Mediator Guild."

He furrows his brows so much like she and her father always had, like Jor-El had. "What were they when you were there?"

"Warrior became military, thinker became science." Kara twitches her fingers again and the images change, showing the different buildings. "The others remained the same as time passed, though the mediators became more devout to our gods, sure that they were testing our faith in them with each issue presented."

"What were your parents?"

"My father was of the Science Guild." Talking about it seems to hurt less than it once had, her chest no longer feels like its cracking open. It no longer felt like Krypton was exploding in her chest. "My mother a Judicar of the Law Council."

"What was the Law Council?"

She smiles at his enthusiasm, his honest curiosity. The way his chin tilted high as he asked, demanded, answers. "It was made up of those from the five guilds, meant to oversee Krypton, to protect it and make decisions for Krypton. To uphold the laws of Krypton."

"And you, which were you?" He looks curious, thoughtful, though there's a hint of caution in his eyes. A twitch to his limbs like he thinks he might have over-stepped.

Kara is about to answer with all the grace and nerves she had speaking English the first time in front of her class at Midvale, when something tickles at her ears, something familiar. She furrows her brow, tilts her head as she focuses and she hears a cry of dismay so ingrained into her that her heart begins to race. She stands quickly, almost tripping over her cape in her haste. "I have to go Konnor. Nobody will find you here okay? CADMUS can't get you. So you have to stay here, okay Konnor? Please"

He stands quickly, staring at her in wide-eyed fear. "Kara, whats going on?! Where are you going?"

"I need to go." She steps back, ready to shoot out the door when another familiar cry reaches her ears. "And I need you to promise to stay here Konnor."

He shakes his head vehemently. "No, tell me whats going on!" His shoulders pull back and his broad chest stills, but there's a tremble to his ribs. A shuddering of his breaths. "Don't _leave_ me."

She freezes at the crack in his voice, moving forward to cradle his face between her shaking hands. She _needs_ to get to Alex, but Konnor needs her too. "Supergirl is needed and I need you to stay here, to stay safe."

His hands come up to clamp down on her wrists, fingers trembling and heart pounding away in his chest. "Alex?" His eyes are wide, face going ashen with terror, he looks like he had after Alex was injured.

"She's fine." Kara lies through her teeth, hoping that Konnor won't catch it. "But I need to go."

"You'll come back?" And he looks so young right now that Kara keeps cradling his face in her hands, meets his eyes and nods, smoothing over the worry lines that mar his brow with the pad of one of her fingers.

"Yes, just stay here. Please. Talk to Jor-El and Kelex about Krypton. I'll be back before you know it." And she zips away from the Fortress of Solitude, breaking the sound barrier in her haste to get to Alex on time.

* * *

* * *

 

"That was nothing." The CADMUS soldier says as he spits out the blood from his mouth, choking out another laugh. "CADMUS put me through worse, but your father, oh he was so easy to break. Gave in so quickly and begged so sweetly." Alex lets out another inhuman sound, yanking herself out of Johnson and Underwood's hold, snapping a fist to split his eyebrow open, then break his nose even more. Johnson manages to pull her back again, his own nose bleeding from where her elbow had caught him after his first attempt to pull her off. "You are weak, you'll never find him." He sneers at her, Underwood carefully moving to cuff him as Alex heaves in thick rage filled breaths contained in Johnson's hold for now. "When we get out hands on Supergirl, they'll do the same to her. Break her, make her _beg."_ Underwood lets out a soft sound of defeat as his words register to the three DEO agents. 

Alex doesn't make a sound this time, slams her foot into Johnson's instep and moves quickly, ducking under Underwood's too slow grab and slams into the man with all the force she can muster. Alex lands one punch to his face before grabbing him by his hair and slamming his head into the concrete floor once then once again. There's the shattering of glass and then a thud as feet hit the floor. Alex spins around, eyes wild, ready for the next threat even though her gun is hooked to Johnson's straps.

Except it's not a threat, it's Kara, staring at her in worry and confusion. "ALEX!?"

"What are you doing here?!" Alex is wide eyed now, there's blood splattered across her face and her knuckles are raw and bleeding under her torn gloves. J'onn is yelling at them over the radio to retreat, gather what they need and leave. The only ones listening are Squad Two and the other three of Alex's team, the one's not with her. Johnson is holding his possibly broken foot and Underwood is warily watching them as Alex finishes cuffing the man, who thankfully is still alive, just unconscious. "X-ray him for tracking devices."

Kara grits her teeth but does as told, finding one embedded into his hip and another in his molar. Underwood carefully removes them while the others gather the material the man hadn't finished destroying. Alex moves like a robot, still limbed and silent as they load into the DEO vans, Kara flies ahead to the DEO to wait for them, energy buzzing about her skin with each minute that ticks by.

Finally when they arrive Johnson and Elaine park the vans and Alex storms through the building, dropping her earpiece out into another person's hands. She stalks toward Kara, there's still that look in her eyes, like she's still at the building and not in front of Kara. "Where's Konnor?"

Kara's shoulders straighten at the tone of voice Alex has, one so much like Eliza's. "At the Fortress."

"You left him there?!" Alex scream and Kara grits her teeth as a few agents turn to look at them, Kara grabs Alex's elbow, leading her to one of the far room. Alex glare and grits her teeth but follows.

Kara shuts the door, pulling in a calming breath before rounding on Alex, who crosses her arms and glares at the door. "He's safe there, I heard your scream Alex. I had to come."

Alex scoffs, throwing her still bleeding hands out. "No you didn't, I was fine!"

Kara shakes her head, moving to take a step forward but Alex takes a step back, glaring at her. Kara barely keeps the hurt from showing across her face, clenching her jaw. "You were beating a man for no reason other than to hurt him Alex."

"He took my dad! He tortured him, I had _every_ reason to hurt him." And there's a new fire in Alex's eyes, dark and all consuming. Dangerous.

"Alex, you took your anger out on him." Kara steps forward slowly, not touching the other woman but close enough to feel the heat off of her. "You _beat_ him."

Alex is completely still in the soundproof room they'd had found themselves in, muscles coiled tightly. "He'll be fine." Alex scowls, narrowing her eyes at Kara, seeming to remember something. "Was Clark with Konnor at the Fortress or is he still there, _alone?"_

"I left him with Kelex and Jor-El's AI." Kara barely keeps her wince hidden. "I told him i'd be back after I helped."

Alex shakes her head, scoffing, looking for a fight. "Dammit Kara, no. This isn't. This isn't like a relationship. You can't just leave Konnor after you made plans. He's probably freaking out right now, he is a kid. He needs stability. He needs to not be left alone." And all Alex remembers is her own childhood, left to her own devices as her parents tried to juggle work and a child too smart for her own good.

Kara rounds on her blue eyes sharp and lit with a righteous fire. "Then what about you?! You're leaving for missions all the time, you didn't tell me you were going after CADMUS tonight!"

"I left because I was _assigned_ to CADMUS!" They are both yelling, too emotional and distressed, lucky to be in a sound proof room. "I have a schedule. Rotations that I follow for my job."

Kara scoffs, crossing her arms. "And I don't?"

Alex narrows her eyes and a drop of blood slips between her clenched fingers, splattering across the floor. They both ignore it. "Supergirl doesn't. We can't just leave him alone."

"And what about when you need me? I'm not just going to sit here and let you risk your life." Kara steps closer, crowding Alex with the scant few inches she has on her. "I am not going to stop being Supergirl!"

Alex doesn't back down, she tilts her chin high and clenches her fist until they shake. "CADMUS will come for him Kara. You can't always leave him at the Fortress! Do you want to come home after leaving him alone and find him gone?"

"CADMUS won't get him. I won't let them." Kara's fingers twitch to reach out to Alex, to soothe where the edges of the two of them were breaking. "He can wait at the DEO when were on missions."

"That's not the point." And Alex is fighting because she can't fight the man downstairs. She's lashing out in the way she learned best from her mother. "He is a kid. He needs to do kid things just like you did."

"We're raising him together Alex." Kara stares at her like she sees through all of Alex's bravado. "You can't expect me to be the only one that changes. Quit using him as an excuse to keep me away from CADMUS."

"Kara." Alex scoffs.

"No, I _know_ you Alex." Kara tilts her chin down to catch hazel eyes with her own. "You didn't tell me you were going to CADMUS today for a reason. You're scared."

Alex scoffs again. "I am not."

Kara's shoulders slumps and she looks at Alex like they're eighteen again and Alex is leaving for college. _"Alex."_

Alex's jaw clenches and seconds pass before her shoulders slump and the fight seems to leave her. "Fine whatever. I'm terrified for you both."

Kara steps forward all the way this time, pulling Alex into her arms. "We'll be fine. We'll find your dad, we'll defeat CADMUS, _together._ Konnor will be safe, we'll protect him." And Alex wants to believe her, want to be optimistic but it's not her nature. Not when everything that could go wrong always seemed to go wrong. Alex relaxes into Kara's arm, lets her head drop to Kara's shoulder as she breaths in the smell of clouds clinging to the suit.

Kara tightens her hold, clutching her arms around Alex's lower back and they stand there for a few moments, gather the reins they had lost on their emotions. Alex's heart calms and her hands throb in pain, blood slipping between her fingers and down the shoulders of Kara's cape. Kara lets the silence continue before gathering the strength she needs. With a shuddering sigh she presses a kiss to Alex's temple, murmuring into her sweaty skin. "I'm mad at you still."

Alex jerks her head back and looks up like she's been given whiplash. "What?"

Kara clenches her jaw, pulling a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "You told me you were going to be in the lab. You never said the field." She loses all pretenses of calm when Alex's jaw tightens and Alex glares off to the side, refusing to look at Kara despite them still holding onto one another. "When did you start lying to me?" There's a broken look in Kara's eyes now. "When have you stopped?

Alex slackens like Kara cut her strings, the aggression leaving her at the cracks in Kara's voice.. _"Kara."_

Kara lets out a pained yet angry noise. "No. I'm sick of this, i'm sick of you lying to me. I'm _tired_ of it Alex."

"Kara, please." Alex's eyes are wide and wet. "I was doing it to protect you."

Kara's chin trembles and she lets out a throaty, choked and disbelieving laugh. "And what if I want to protect you?"

"CADMUS, they'll destroy you Kara." And Kara hears Alex's heart pick up pace, smells the fear and sweat start to emit from Alex. "You saw what they did to Konnor, I can't have them getting you. I _can't."_

"This isn't a one-way street Alex!" Kara shakes her head, hands tightening on Alex's hips. "You can't do everything to protect me and not let me protect you. Alex we are in this together."

"I can't lose you Kara." Alex's bloodied hands clutch at Kara's shoulder and the back of her neck, leaving smears of red in their wake. "I _can't."_

Kara presses her forehead to Alex's and Alex closes her eyes, lips trembling with shuddering sighs. "I know, I can't lose you either okay? We're in this together, no more secrets Alex. No more lying." Alex nods against her and Kara closes her eyes finally, letting her shoulders relax. 

* * *

* * *

 

Alex stares at Konnor, they'd been home maybe thirty minutes, Kara had been fidgety and guilty and Konnor had been eerily silent, not saying a word to either of them as he hunched his shoulders. He had been quiet since Kara and he had walked through the door, quiet ever since Kara had picked him up from the Fortress. "Konnor?" Alex prompts and he doesn't respond, glaring at his plate as he eats a late night snack in silence. "Konnor, I need you to tell me what's wrong."

He look up and scowls at them before going back to the his plate with stiff shoulders and Alex can't punish him. Can't ground him when he's already stuck with them almost 24/7. Not when he is trying to learn. She won't push and yell like her mother had. Gone is the smiling boy from the skating rink and in his place is the scowling distrustful boy from the first night at the DEO. They've took three steps back in his progress and it hurts. Kara looks guilty, all fidgety hands and apologies. He continues to scowl at them. Eating the rest of his snack in silence before storming off to his room, his door doesn't slam but his feet shake the floor when he rushes to his room. 

Alex continues to put the dishes in the sink, forgoing washing them as Kara flops onto the couch and drops her head against her forearms, her pillow in her lap. Her shoulders shake and Alex knows, she knows that Kara is crying like she always had. Quiet like the world will break if they hear her pain. Alex comes to sit down next to her, holding one of Kara's hands in her own as it clenches and un-clenches. They sit in silence for a few more minutes before Kara pulls in a deep shuddering breath, keeping her face buried into the pillow. "Do you think we're doing the right thing?"

"What do you mean?" Alex smooths her fingers over Kara's wary of the scabs over her own knuckles, being sure not to fist or bend her own hands too much. 

Kara sniffs quietly, coming down from crying. "He deserves better."

Alex's brows furrow and she can't figure out whether to be heartbroken or insulted. _"What?"_

Kara looks up to meet her gaze and there isn't the blame Alex thought she'd find in her eyes, only guilt. "He needs a family Alex, people who will actually put him first."

"Kara." Alex's voice cracks, and her fingers tremble across Kara's.

"No, you were right, I left him at the Fortress without thought. I didn't put him first." Her shoulders shake again and tears are still slipping down her face, but Kara had always been a silent crier and it make Alex's chest clench in pain. "I know what its like to be left alone Alex. I know that feeling of being alone and fearing no one will ever come back. I have lost everything and so has Konnor." Kara's shoulders tremble like the world is pressing down on them and her voice cracks and crumbles. "How can I protect him when i'm the one hurting him?"

"Kara, no." And Alex pulls her into a tight hold, Kara's face pressing into her shoulder and kryptonian fingers digging into her shirt, tearing it at its seams. Her own injured hands slip around Kara, one to cradle to back of Kara's head and the other to smooth up and down shuddering back muscles. "He is not alone and neither are you. We'r-we're still adjusting, you and I didn't having the greatest example of parenting." And she runs her fingers through Kara's hair now, letting the strands catch on scabs as she tries to calm and reassure Kara. "But we're doing the best we can, Konnor, he needs us. My mom didn't know what to do with you, could barely handle an alien with so much grief. I love her, but she is not right for Konnor. I don't want a DEO agent to watch over him, I don't want to force Clark to watch him. I want to take care of him with _you_ Kara, and I think he wants that too. We can, we can offer him a chance at a normal life, one without needles and cages. Without expectations and harsh words."

Kara chokes out a disbelieving laugh, rubbing her nose against Alex's clavicle, speaking her words into Alex's chest. "But we offer danger Alex. CADMUS, the DEO, Supergirl. How many people would kill to get someone Supergirl cares about?"

"We'll deal with that when the time comes, but Konnor, he's safer with us than without us. I don't." Alex lets out a sigh. "I don't want anyone else to have him, I don't trust anyone else with him, but we can give him a choice. If he doesn't want to stay." Alex swallows and her chest feels like it's breaking apart. "If he doesn't want to stay with us then we'll work on that, he has choices and we'll let him choose, but we'll always protect him."

Kara smile is trembling against Alex's throat, barely even there. "And never leave him alone."

"No." Alex presses at the back of Kara's head, letting the kryptonian rest fully against her, face buried into Alex's neck and hands fisted in her shirt, tucked between the two of them. "Never leave him alone."

Konnor comes out quickly, suddenly. Without warning and the door slamming against the wall. His eyes are wide when he come to stop in front of them. "I don't." He is breathing heavy and his eyes are wet, Kara turns in Alex's hold to look at the boy in front of them, hands itching to reach out and comfort him, but she fears it will be rejected. "I don't want anyone else. I want to stay here. Don't. Don't send me away." Tears threaten to spill down his face and he looks like the begging hurts him. His eyes are too wide and too frantic in this moment, having heard them talking.

Kara sits up straighter, curling her fingers against her palm to stop herself from reaching out and smoothing the worry lines that mar his brow. "Konnor, we'd never send you away, but I left you alone."

"You, you needed to." And he is shaking like a leaf, a child in every aspect except size. Alex make a soft sound of distress, both of the women hurt at the way his shoulders threatening to cave in. The way his eyes water. "They needed Supergirl."

"But I still shouldn't have left you alone." Alex is stiff next to her, holding back the same urge to grab Konnor and hide him form all the pain in the world. "You need us, I failed at that."

Alex smooths her fingers over Kara's knee, grabbing one of her clenched hands again. "And I shouldn't have lied, I should have told you both we were going after a CADMUS building tonight. I shouldn't have yelled at Kara either." And Alex squeezes Kara's hand now, despite the way her own scream at her. "I fucked up, but we'll work on that okay?"

Kara squeezes back oh so gently. "We all will." Blue eyes dart from Alex to Konnor. "But Konnor we need you to tell us what you need too. If you want us to go someplace, if you need space or you want us to stay you need to tell us. We're all still learning."

"I don't." He steps closer, legs wobbling like a colt learning to walk. "I don't want you to leave me. I don't want to be _alone."_ His face is twisted with fear and grief, looking so much like a young Kara once had.

Alex nods, tightens her hold on Kara's hand at the shear amount of pain and guilt that stab into her chest. "Okay, then you won't be alone."

"Okay." He edges his way closer to them now, their knees almost touching, fist clenching but he opens his hands, palms held out. Trembling. "Can I hug you?"

Kara laughs wetly, opening her arms for him. "Whenever you want to." And he falls into her, squeezing tightly with all his strength, shoulders shuddering. Kara grunts but squeezes back just as hard, her free hand clutching at Alex's. Alex rubs Konnor's back as the boy tries and fails to contain his emotions, but he lets them out, surround by the two people he trusts.

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

The sound of Winn whooping in victory in the living bounces around the apartment. Konnor lets out a shout of dismay and Kara shakes her head, grinning despite the noise level of the two in the living room. It was their day off, all of theirs surprisingly, and Winn and Konnor were making the most of it. Alex lets out a low hum as she tries to de-crypt the pages they'd gotten from the CADMUS building two days ago. "We need to think about school after summer ends."

Kara looks up front correcting the article, furrowing her brow, letting her hearing edge out so she can hear Winn now grumbling in good nature as Konnor begins to win the video game they are currently playing. "School?"

Alex doesn't look up, chin smudged with ink as she rubs at it thoughtfully, lip pulled between her teeth as her brain works a mile a minute, yet she still continues to converse with Kara. "For Konnor, we can't keep him cooped up in the house or my lab or CatCo, he needs something remotely normal."

The pen in Kara's hand cracks and ink spills all over her palm, she lets out a soft sigh and Alex passes her a towel without looking up. "Where would we send him? How would he handle it?"

"The same way you did, he'll learn." Alex looks up quickly to meet Kara's gaze, soft and imploring. "The good thing about being in a big city means they won't notice a new kid as much."

Kara is all tense muscles while Alex is relaxed, at ease with this conversation. "But CADMUS."

Alex reaches forward, dropping her own pen to grasp at Kara's hand with her left. Her right is still mostly scabbed over and hurts to move. "Vazquez has feelers out everywhere and has a solid background for him, its been more than a month." She squeeze Kara's hand hard enough for even the kryptonian to feel the assurance of the pressure. "They shouldn't be able to find him that way, but we'll have to get him into one that has closed systems just in case."

"Completely closed un-hackable systems? Like a private school?" Kara arches an eyebrow, shaking her head in disbelief. "I'm betting the DEO won't pay for that completely."

"We'll check them out and figure out payments when we do, I've got enough saved up for now." Alex leans back in her chair, rocking back on to legs, balanced precariously, thoughtful. "He'll be in high school, so he'll adjust, hopefully." Alex drops the legs of the chair back to the floor, rubbing at her forehead as she slumps against the back of her chair. "He'll need to see Dr. Cho."

Kara's lips twitch and she keeps an ear out for Konnor, but he doesn't hear them, distracted by Winn and the video games. "He won't like it."

Alex lets out a strangled chuckle, Konnor would take to therapy about as well as she would. "No, but he's adjusting to life outside CADMUS, she'll help him."

Kara quirks an eyebrow like they both had the same thought, and something flashes across her face that makes the hair on Alex's arms stand up. "You'll have to bargain with him."

Alex snorts, leaning forward to settle her chin against her palm, grinning at the look on Kara's face. Thoughtful yet diplomatic, every bit of the Kryptonian great house she was born. "And how will I do that?"

Kara meets her gaze head on, un-hesitant, yet there is something like trepidation there. "If he goes, you go."

"Kara." Alex hisses, startling back against the chair like Kara had struck her.

Kara's reaches forward, hands itching to latch onto Alex's, itching to calm Alex's racing heart. "No, I think it will help."

"No, it _won't."_ Alex jerks her hands back, betrayal evident across her face, chest pounding away and they are so lucky Konnor can't control his hearing as well as Kara. That he can't hear Alex's heart racing and Kara's thumping in an irregular frantic pattern while he's distracted.

Kara doesn't back down, jaw clenching as she stares at Alex, refusing to give up. To back down. "Then why does Konnor need to go?" It sounds more rhetoric than anything but Kara's always known how to push Alex.

"Because he is adjusting to life outside a lab!" Alex shoves back from the table, stalking into the dining room, farther away from the two playing in the living-room. "Because he is young and so angry."

"And you?" Kara follows after her, right on her heels, voice low so only Alex can hear her. "You risk your life constantly, even when you don't need to. You were completely wasted at Thanksg-."

Alex spins, lips trembling, watery eyes full of pain and shame. _"Don't_  Kara."

"No." Kara reaches for her, hands fluttering before they brush at Alex's elbows, barely there. "I know you haven't gotten really drunk since we had Konnor come with us. I haven't smelled it on you since since Thanksgiving, but it's a problem." She ducks her head low, catching Alex's watery eyes that refuse to look up. That refuse to see her.

Alex's body trembles and if it were anyone else other than Kara she'd have thrown off their hands and lashed out with her fists. "I have it under control. I am _fine."_  Mostly she had, but Thanksgiving was a slip up. Thanksgiving was always a slip-up, the one day a year she touched alcohol again despite Dr. Hamilton's words, despite the 11 month of sobriety she always managed to keep. It was always that one day a year without fail. Though Astra's death and the consequence of that now marked her second time grabbing the bottle in this year. That was a time she hated to think about, the crushing guilt and shame and the burn in the back of her throat.

Kara's thumbs smooth over the apex of Alex's elbow and forearm. "Then why haven't we talked about Red-K?"

Alex stiffens, moves to jerk back in Kara's hold but the earnest, guilt filled eyes halt her more than Kara's soft grip ever could. "Kara."

"No." And Kara doesn't fracture under Alex's broken eyes, the need to push everything inside and ignore it. Kara's chest throbs at everything they'd left unsaid. Everything they had ignored since they had stopped seeing eye to eye, problems surfacing. Back to Alex's anger at her Supergirl coming out, hell it went as far back to when they were teenagers. A co-dependence that they still have today. One that was fracturing by all the secrets that had wormed their way between them. "She can help with that too."

Alex still trembles like a leaf, every instinct telling her to run, to throw off Kara's hold and run to the nearest bar. Telling her to push all these discussions and feelings under a rug, ignore them until she forgot about them. "We're fine. I'm _fine."_

"But we could be better." Kara steps closer then, close enough that her kryptonian heat is flooding through Alex's shirt. "Alex please."

"Well what about you Kara?" Alex is tenser than before, teeth grinding together and heart racing. Her fingers move to grab at Kara's elbows, tightening to the point where a human would bruise. Her knuckles flares in pain as the scabs split open but they both ignore it. "What about you sacrificing yourself to save the world!? What about leaving me behind without an actual fucking goodbye?" Alex face is awash with rage and anguish, more than Kara had ever seen on her face before.

Kara gives her a watery smile, letting her thumb smooth over the soft skin of Alex's arms. "This is why we need to talk to her, we have so many thing to figure out. We can't keep pushing it under the rug."

"Fine." Alex huffs out, eyes darting around the room before she lets out a lower sigh, moving so she and Kara meet gazes. "Fine. We'll find a school for Konnor and schedule sessions with Dr. Cho, all of us."

"Thank you."

* * *

* * *

Lena lets out a low sigh, rubbing at her temples as the words on the page in front of her bleed together. Her bare feet rub against the small fluffy rug under her desk, trying to take some comfort from the little things as her eyes burn and her head throbs. The numbers for inventory weren't matching up, which meant there was another leak in her department. Another person heeding to her brother's wishes instead of her orders. There's the sharp clicking of heels against hardwood and Lena looks up quickly to the slightly ajar door. The hallway behind it is dark, the evening having long past giving way to night, Lena having sent Jess home long ago. Lena would be stiff with caution and fear if she hadn't recognized that walk. The clicking of heels. She leans back in her chair, closing the folder in front of her. "Mother."

The door creaks open all the way now and Lillian, in all her glory steps forward, towering as ever in the doorway. "Lena."

"What are you doing here?" Lena drops her pen to her desk, rising to walk around and lean against the front of it. Barely holding in the urge to cross her arms like some defiant teenager, instead she curls them around the edge of the desk. "I thought you receded from LCorp."

"I did." Lillian eyes the causally way her daughter leans against the desk, hip cocked, but there's a stiffness to her small frame, like she expect to be yelled at for not keep her posture straight. Lillian lets out a low sound from the back of her throat. "But some troubling news has been brought to my attention."

Lena arches an eyebrow, exactly like her father always managed to and Lillian's heart throbs. "You saw the news I take it?" And there's an underlying snark in there that Lena had never managed to hide despite years of etiquette lessons.

"You're my daughter Lena, you are painting a target on your head with this." Lillian steps closer, narrowing the distance of the room to about three feet, she doesn't step any closer, unwilling to tower over her daughter with the height she had on her. Not when Lena always eyed her with caution ever since Lex's downfall. Like Lillian would take a knife and press it into Lena's chest at Lex's insistence. "Lex's men will come for you. Again."

Lena scoffs, crossing her arms this time, leaning more fully against her desk. "Let them mother, he can't stop me."

Lillian lets out a distressed shocked sound, slightly angry as well. _"Lena."_

"No, he was supplying anti-alien weapons to a black-ops organization." This time Lena straightens, standing to her full height, chin tilted back defiantly like she had since she was a small child. "I don't know the name, but it is _military_ mother. Our government is condoning this."

Lillian steps forward now, crowding her daughter now that this truth had been revealed, that the danger had already found it's way into Lena's life. There was a point of no return. Lena had yet to hit it, riding the line like she always had, defiant and too smart for her own good. "Keep your nose out of it Lena, this will bring you trouble."

Lena clenches her jaw. Her fists tight by her hips as she now stands rim-rod straight, like Lillian's closeness was forcing every nerve in her body to scream. "I am trying to make the Luthor name mean something again."

"All that name will do is be engraved into your headstone if you keep this up!" Lillian's heart races and she snarls at her daughter, unable to hide her fury and fear. "I can't stop your brother."

There's a dark look trapped in Lena's eyes now as she glares up at the woman who adopted her, who became her mother. "Can't or _won't?"_

"We both lost Lex Lena, don't make me lose you too." She searches her daughter's face, looking for any hint that she was getting through to her. "Not when it can be prevented."

Lena leans back against the desk, tilting her chin to the doorway Lillian had came through. "I think we are done here mother."

Lillian shakes her head, taking a half step back, conceding some leeway. "I am trying to protect you Lena."

Lena laughs brokenly at this, eyes bright with tears. "By leaving the company, leaving me alone and telling me to turn tail?"

"I left the company for a reason Lena." And her eyes are haunted, like she's seen a thousand lifetimes and can't un-see them as she stops short of begging Lena to drop everything she was doing. "One I hope will protect you, but you are doing everything in your power to paint a target on your back with these little investigations."

Lena tilts her head to the side, hands rest on her thighs, fingers twisted together. "I've always excelled at surviving mother, i'll be fine."

Lillian closes her eyes, pinches the bridge of her nose before she drops her hand and lets out a quiet sigh, meeting her daughter's gaze. "Next time I see you I hope it isn't in the morgue." With one last searching look she leaves the room, closing the door behind her. Lena slumps against the desk, leg almost giving out as she tilts her head back, eyes closed. Her hands shaking where they grips the edge of the desk.

* * *

* * *

Alex wakes with a start, gasping and frantically searching the room. Within seconds her door is open and Kara is kneeling on the bed, leaning over Alex, cautious and frantic with worry. "Alex?"

Tears spill down Alex's face and she shakes her head, reaching for Kara's face with trembling fingers. "I killed you. I killed you."

"No Alex." Kara leans into Alex's hand, letting Alex's shockingly cold fingers brush her hot cheeks, letting her feel that she's alive. "No you didn't."

Kara threads her fingers around the soft hair at the back of Alex's skull, tangled from sweat, left over from the nightmare. Kara's not pulling her in but allowing her to recognize her touch, come back to reality. Tears drips down Alex's face and Alex shakes her head, heart pounding away, chest stuttering like she can't catch her breath. "Non, he order me and I couldn't s-s-stop."

Kara rocks forward on her knees, pressing her forehead to Alex's, catching hazel eyes with her own and rubbing soothingly at the back of Alex's neck, smoothing the tangles there. "But you did." Alex's lets out a keening sound before burying her face into Kara's neck and letting her hand drift down to settle above Kara's heart, feeling the slow steady beat. After a few beats of silence Kara lets out a shuddering sigh. "I have them too."

Alex lets out a choked sob. "I'm so sorry." There's so much guilt and resentment in her that Kara starts, brows furrowing before her brain catches up with Alex's. She shakes her head vehemently.

 _"No,_ not of you killing me Alex." Kara's hands shake where they rub soothingly along Alex's back, smoothing the tense muscles there. "They're of me. Killing you." Kara's entire body shakes, trembling like she had when she first landed on earth. Like her muscles were seizing with everything she felt. "Red kryptonite me."

Alex stills, looking up at Kara. Searching her face before her fingers come up to wipe away Kara's tears, leaving her palms to round around Kara's cheeks. "I'm here."

Kara relaxes into the hands, tightening her hold on Alex until they are pressed close together. "I'm here too."

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

_The Next Day_

Lena grins at Kara when she sits down at the restaurant the CEO had chosen. Kara looks at the menu with vaguely concealed disgust. There was kale on almost _everything._  "Kara Danvers." Lena greets her with a grin as they both sit down, Lena having stood when Kara arrived.

Kara snorts, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Lena Luthor." Kara barely catches the flinch, just a slight tightening of muscles in Lena's face at her own name. Kara smiles softly, wanting to ease the pain in Lena's eyes. "I don't know why you say my name like that."

Lena smiles widely now, blood red lips stretch to revealed sharp white teeth as she threads her fingers together under her chin. "Because you are an enigma Kara Danvers and I've yet to figure you out."

Kara flushes, messing with her glasses nervously. "There's nothing special about me." She shrugs her shoulders, trying to keep them from pressing up. keep them from hunching at the attention. "I'm just regular ol' Kara Dangers."

Lena snorts. "Now I don't believe that for one second." Lena leans forward, captivating as ever. "There's nothing regular about you." Kara blinks owlishly back at her, fingers twisting a cloth napkin in her lap. Lena smiles softly at the look on Kara's face, taking pity on the girl who acted like she deserved to hide in the background. Like she was meant to blend in, yet everything Lena had seen told her there was more to Kara Danvers than meets the eye. "Now what exactly did you invite me to lunch for?"

Kara winces. "It certainly wasn't for the kale." Her nose wrinkles. "Is it on _everything_ here?"

"You chose the time and I chose the place." Lena lets out a soft sound of amusement. "This is one of the only places that keeps camera's and reporters out." Lena tilts her chin to the tinted windows. "They like their privacy like I do."

Kara tilts her head to the side, eyes sharp like a snakes, taking everything in. Lena recognizes that look, calculating. It's hidden under Kara's fumbling hands and glasses, but Lena's always been good at seeing past the exterior of thing. Looking behind casings and at the wires on the inside. It disappears suddenly and Kara grins at her. "But do they have to serve only kale based food?"

Lena rolls her eyes, Kara was unlike anyone she had ever met before, a puzzle that piqued Lena's interest. It helped that she was so very earnest, honest. Yet there were secrets hidden in her, dark and swirling behind her gaze that Lena barely got a glimpse of the first few times she met her. "They have a burger, you can get the kale on the side."

Kara wrinkles her nose, glasses threatening to fall down them. "It's a _tofu_ burger."

"Unwilling to try new thing?" Lena tilts her chin forward, un-threading her hands. "I didn't take you as a person unwilling of new experiences."

Kara shakes her head, eyes sparking. "I like food. Like _really_ like it, but I draw the like at things that taste like what feet smell like." Kara holds back a snort. Alex gets her plight, understands that her sense of smell is far greater than humans. That tofu smells disgusting to her, but she can't tell Lena this. Can't spill this to her new very human friend. 

Lena barely contains her scoff. "You're exaggerating."

"No, believe me my college roommate had a tofu kick. Let me try it once and I was puking." Her eyes are wide and earnest, Lena leans forward despite herself. Captured in the emotions Kara freely displays, so unlike everyone Lena's around on a daily basis. "I have an iron stomach Lena, I ate five pies in a row without puking. I don't like tofu."

Lena arches a brow, Kara had nervously mentioned getting lunch over a CatCo email, reaching out where most wouldn't have and Lena decided to grab the hand Kara was extending in friendship. To go to lunch with the girl who seemingly didn't even pay attention to Lena's last name. "And the kale?"

"I don't like vegetables." Kara scoffs, fingers tapping against the table, Lillian would have rapped her fingers with a fork and a stern glare. Lena watches long fingers dance before looking up to watch the emotions dance across Kara's face. "They taste like dirt."

Lena blinks at her, just as owlishly as Kara had earlier. "You don't eat vegetables?" Kara shrugs easily, shaking her head. Lena's face twitches in shock. "What do you eat?"

"Take-out sometimes. I like pot-stickers and pizza." Lena's eyes widened just a little so Kara presses on, not wanting Lena to think all they eat is take-out. They aren't barbarians. "Alex makes dinner sometimes, usually pasta. I mostly make deserts, though I do a mean omelette." Kara grins but there's a flush to her cheeks. "It's easier to cook now that Alex and I moved in together, my stove was." Kara wrinkles her nose. "It didn't work _right."_

Lena is still blinking at her with an almost shocked look to her face. "How do you even?" She splutters. "How are you even alive? No vegetables? Do you even take vitamins? Supplements?" Lena leans forward and there's an actual furrow to her brow. "Please tell me you feed the boy." She furrows her brow even more, searching her memory of their first meeting, of the boy who had the same nose as Lex. The same arch to his eyebrows. "Konnor, vegetables."

Kara rolls her eyes. "Alex makes him drink a nasty vegetable concoctions in the evenings."

Lena leans forward, accosted that Kara didn't seem to care about her own health. Lena had grown up with Lillian, who forced vitamins at Lena's like she though the girl was too skinny. Too pale. "And you?"

Kara sticks her tongue out, making a soft gagging sound. Something no one Lena normally had lunch would be caught doing. In public. "She knows not to bring that stuff near me." Lena's heart spikes and there's a minuscule widening to her eyes at this information but Kara listens as Lena's heart calms, something soft settling in her face. Kara eyes her curiously but Lena looks more relaxed than before, though there a slight resignation that's hidden behind amusement. Kara figures it has to do with Lena accepting her lack of vegetable eating, she's wrong.

Lena motions to the menu. "I think we should both order something with Kale on it, get a little bit of vegetables in you."

Kara scoffs. "When's the last time you had something from a food-truck?"

Lena arches an eyebrow. "I can't say I have."

Kara's eyes widen and she looks so affronted, like most people had when Lena had told them her last name. Like Lena had committed a crime. "You haven't? But there's like fifteen of them here!"

Lena tilts her head to the side. "Tell you what, you eat kale and i'll eat from a food truck."

Kara splutters, face heating up in indignation and Lena feels something brighter than amusement bloom in her chest at this woman who took food so seriously. This woman who seemed to be more than meets the eyes at every turn. "But. But Kale doesn't even taste good."

Lena leans back in her chair, their water glasses threaten to spill under Kara's knee jerk. "How will I know the food trucks taste good?"

Kara scoffs, eyes narrowed. "Because they do."

"Not a very solid argument." Lena hums low in her throat, taking a drink of the water and waiting for Kara to fall.

Kara scoffs, leaning forward to glare petulantly at Lena. "Because I _say_ they do."

Lena hide her smirk behind her glass, taking another sip before setting it down. "And I say kale taste good."

Kara scoffs, muttering something under her breath. Lena only catches the word 'human' before Kara is glaring at her. There's resignation to it and Lena shouldn't feel as amused as she does. "Not even Alex can get me to eat Kale. She's given up."

Lena grins, this wasn't like her normal lunch meetings. And Lena was floundering, barely keeping up with Kara, but it was fun. New and refreshing. "Maybe she'll thank me for getting some greens into you."

Kara scoffs. "She'll have a field day." Kara then crosses her arm, and pulls her shoulders back like she's off to war. "Fine, I eat  _kale."_ And she says the word like someone would say something of disgust. "And you'll eat at a food truck." Lena chews on her lip, staring at the tinted windows. Kara softens in front of her. "Don't worry, there won't be any reporters where the food trucks are."

Lena arches her brow. "Are you taking me someplace even reporters don't go?"

Kara nods enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, most reporters know better than to lurk around seventeenth."

"Seventeenth?" Lena hadn't been in National City long at all, barely even knew the main roads but Kara spoke like she had ever nook memorized.

"Yeah, it's downtown." Her fingers twitch and scatter across the air like she motioning at a map, Lena tries not to find this endearing. "Near the factories and the dock. You'll love it."

"I thought food trucks moved?"

Kara smiles like she know something Lena doesn't. "Trust me, the'll be there when we finish here."

Lena's eyes widen and she stares at Kara in something like shocked resignation. "We're eating again after lunch?"

Kara shakes her head, eyes sparking. "Five pies Lena."

* * *

* * *

The X-Files plays in the background as Alex reaches for the plate of pot-stickers Kara had picked up on her way home from lunch with a friend. Kara makes a low noise in the back of her throat that makes Alex freeze in place, too used to the noise having lived with the alien as teenagers. Alex looks up to meet Kara's gaze. Kara is glaring at her, lips threatening to form a pout. "Alex if that pot-sticker is not in my mouth I will melt your face off."

Alex scowls, getting ready to argue when Konnor leans forward to grab it with his own chop-sticks, his sixteenth pair that night. He stuffs it into his mouth without hesitation. They both stare at him with shocked opened mouths. "What?" He at least speaks after he's chewed and swallowed the food. "Sharing is caring?" His eyes are bright and teasing as he grabs an egg-roll with his chop-sticks now.

Alex tilts her head back against the couch letting out a long suffering groan. "I will never get a pot-sticker ever again will I?" She is given two innocent looks from twin blue eyes, she lets out another groan. "This is my life now, feeding two aliens all my favorite foods. I'll never eat anything ever again." Her lips threaten to break into a small smile at Kara's guffawing and they both looks to Konnor, who is quiet. His eyes are bright and hopeful, face twisted in shock. Alex tilts her head to the side. "What?"

He ducks his head, face flushing. "Nothing."

Kara nudges him with her toe. "No, it's something."

He looks up to stare at Alex before looking down again. "You said it like i'd be around forever."

Alex goes soft like he's seen her go around Kara, away from work and prying eyes. "Of course you will be, you're stuck with us Konnor."

Kara grins, bright eyed and teasing. "Alex likes to collect her little aliens."

_"Kara."_

"It's true, me, J'onn, Konnor." Kara dodges the pillow Alex throws her way and Konnor grins at them, cradling his plate in his lap away from the flying pillows. "Will the others be following you around soon?"

Alex glares at her, lips pursed. "I will dump habanero peppers all over the pizza if you don't shut up. Maybe even get some kale." Alex's eyes spark with something there, something dark Kara hadn't seen before.

Kara ignores that flash of darkness she'd seen, figuring it was the light playing tricks on her kryptonian eyes. "Alex!" And Kara looks affronted now, insulted by the mere fact that Alex would decimate the pizza with something Kara could not, would not, eat. Especially not kale. Not again. Konnor lets out a snort of sharp laughter before stuffing more noodles into his mouth, eyes bright like they hadn't been weeks ago when they first found him. Like they hadn't been since they picked him up from the Fortress.

* * *

* * *

* * *

A song beats steady and low as the bouncer opens the door for Maggie, grinning at her in the way only his species can. Frill tilting high and colorful on his head and ridges on his face twisting. She grins back, thumping him on the shoulder in good nature, careful of the spikes protruding from his shoulders. She moves past him, making her way to the bar. The blonde behind it is easily mixing two drink without looking at the bottles of glasses. Her back is turned to Maggie, but their eyes meet in the mirror high above them, Maggie grins. "Hey Darla."

"Mags." Darla slides the drinks down to their owners, coming to lean against the bar, brows pinched in worry as she surveys Maggie, before finding everything in order. Nothing missing or bandaged. "Any word on Mundy?"

"He's gone, no trace." Maggie drops her chin to her hand, letting her feet dangle from the bar-stool. Her eyes are narrowed in annoyance and defeat, Darla's face twists in disappointment. "I tried talking to the two humans that robbed the bank, they were tight lipped though."

Darla narrows her eyes at this, grabbing a beer from the cooler under the bar. Popping the top off before handing it to Maggie. "They know you knew Mundy?"

"No, tried telling them but they clammed up." Maggie gulps at the liquor, letting out a sigh as she sets it back down on the counter with a thump. "They're being transferred next week and haven't said a word once."

Darla rolls her eyes, catching a familiar face crowding the end of the bar, she grabs the ingredients for their drink, mixing it quickly. "Why?"

Maggie gulps at the beer again, already halfway through the bottle. "Some hot-shot lawyer took their case, claiming psychological break due to the unfairness of the legal system and the hospitals cost."

Darla hands the pitcher to the alien at the end of the bar, grabbing the dirty glasses and shoving them in the dishwasher hidden under the counter of the bar. She comes back to lean against the counter in front of Maggie. "Will they get off the hook?"

"They didn't take any money due to Supergirl, but they did have hostages." Maggie peels at the label on the bottle, fingers trembling. "With the big-shot's help they'll be in there a year or two, unless one folds on the other and takes all the blame."

Darla scoffs at the human's legal system. With the right amount of money or words anyone could get off with a crime, even the most horrid of them. "You thinking they'll do that?"

Maggie lets out a soft grumble, something like disbelief but also respect. "The old man will." Darla already has faces to names, having read Maggie a few days ago to get a good look at Maggie's thoughts on the subject, with permission of course. "Isabel was his daughter, Nash her girlfriend."

"So the dad'll cave to keep the girlfriend out?"

"My bet, but he'll be out with community service sooner rather than later." Maggie shakes her head at their legal system. The two bank robbers hadn't hurt anyone, but they had broken the law. For reasons better than most, yet the still broke it and Maggie feels conflicted, especially with an alien involved and missing. "Their lawyer is good."

Darla waves away another patron. Letting Luca deal with them as she leans more fully against the bar, ducking her head low to keep their conversation as private as they could. "And Mundy?"

"I've got CI's on the look out but there's nothing on him." Maggie rubs at the headache forming, wishing it away. It persists so she drags another drink of warming beer. "He vanished."

Darla grits her teeth, eyes flashing. "The girl of steel?" 

"Said FBI took him." Maggie scoffs, Supergirl was one of the worst liars she had seen, that or she was too nervous around the police. Which made sense given her background, the incident of her going dark and turning on the police. But there had been something else, Maggie knew it, could feel it in her gut. "But they weren't FBI, not even close."

"Mags?" Darla's brows furrow and she looks terrified. 

"Keep everyone on red alert, aliens have been disappearing left and right."

Darla lets out a low disbelieving sound. "You think the rumors are true?" Her voice drops to barely a whisper, praying none of the others overhear them and freak out.

"That there's a black-ops anti alien group out there?" Darla nods and Maggie lets out a low sigh, rubbing at the persistent ache between her brows. "There's something out there. Mundy is gone, taken in front of a camera. Someone protected by the law would do that. A government agency but not they're not FBI. They didn't move like them. K'luxen vanished in the middle of the night no trace, that's a different prerogative." Her fingers finish pulling off the label of her beer and she rolls it between her finger thoughtfully. "Two different MO's, a black ops and a shadow organization. That doesn't even include some of the missing aliens turning up dead. Alistair was found three days ago, beaten to a bloodied pulp." Both their jaws clench, Alistair had been a child by his people's culture. "National City aliens aren't safe."

"All the kryptonians are gone though." Darla murmurs.

Maggie looks up from her drink, leaning closer.  "What do you mean?"

Darla watches Luca glare at her but the man picks up her slack easily, settling when he spots who she's talking to. "They were recruiting those of us they could, offering domination, freedom to be as we truly are. I kept an eye out for them, didn't want them to get their hands on you or some of our younger patrons. But Supergirl and Superman are the only ones left that I've seen."

"You think one of the anti-alien groups got them Darla?" Maggie feels her head seemingly still in her chest, kryptonians were one of the more powerful races of aliens. If either organization had gotten that many there was no telling what they would do.

"No, remember the Wave?" Maggie nods, vividly remembering the pain in her head and the want to call James and apologize for running away, when she thought the world would all be over. When she though they would all die. "We weren't affected, because of our physiology. Most of us hid or saw what happened. They were military, kryptonian. Hu'kin followed them, watched Supergirl and a green martian fight the Kryptonian Lieutenant and a braniac. Said Supergirl flew their ship into space, full of her own people to get the signal that was killing humans out of Earth's atmosphere."

Maggie furrows her brow, usually good at piecing together the scattered pieces to get the full story, but Darla is making no sense with this angle. "What does this have to do with disappearing aliens?"

"Used to be when one of us vanished they were recruited by the kryptonians. Now though, its different." Her eyes dark around the bar, saddened and full of terror. "The bar is looking empty Mags, therapy is looking empty. Everyone's already on red alert Maggie, we can't _do_ anything else."

Maggie runs her hand through her hair. "I tried bringing it up with my department, I swear Darla." Maggie looks so guilty right there, looking up through her lashes at Darla, shoulders hunched with the weight of missing or dead aliens.

"I know, but they don't care about a few missing aliens." Her fingers brush against Maggie's, taking away the empty bottle but offering the comfort she can. "They don't even care about their own missing species, why would they care about us?"

"I care about you." Maggie says, voice unwavering, shoulders pulled back.

Darla cradles Maggie's cheeks in her hand, tilts her head slightly. "We know, but you are one of few."

* * *

* * *

Kara walks into CatCo the next morning, having left Alex to deal with getting Konnor up and ready for the day. The boy had taken to sleeping in like any teenage human counter part. The sun blocked out from his room so it wouldn't wake him when it shone through the room, revitalizing him and too bright against his eyelids. Though Alex suggested that all kryptonians were heavy sleepers and definitely not morning people. Kara had thrown the spoon she was using to eat cereal at her. Alex had dodged it with a laugh, eyes still haunted from her nightmare but just as bright as every morning she woke up surrounded by Kara's arms and her kryptonian warmth.

Kara makes her way to her office, a box of files tucked under one arm and her tablet and lunch bag in the other. She passes by Winn who holds out a cup, she grabs it eagerly. With her teeth. Winn grins at her and doesn't even offer to carry it, too busy snapping a picture. If he hadn't gotten her the drink since she was running late she would have tripped him, but since he picked it up for her she just narrows her eyes at her best friend. He grins back and saunters over to his desk, she rolls her eyes and makes her way to her office, staring at the door and wondering if she can drop a box open the door and pick it up with super-speed before it crashes. A long dark hand slips into her eyesight, soft blue button up rolled up past elbows. James smiles nervously as he opens the door.

"James." Kara mumbles around the cup she's barely managing to keep upright.

"Kara hey." And his smile is tentative and awkward, fingers twist until they're loosely gripping at his satchels strap.

She drops the boxes and her lunch bag, pulling the cup from her teeth to set it on the desk and as blunt as ever when faced with protecting family she blurts out. "Are you going to be okay around Konnor?"

James swallows before running his tongue over his bottom lip, nervous. "He looks like a young Clark." His jaw clenches before he sighs, letting his tense muscles relax. "Yet a young Lex too. It's _confusing."_

Kara leans back against her desk, crossing her arms. "So?"

"I'm sorry for the way I reacted. With Konnor." He speaks quickly, like she'll send him away if he doesn't get it out fast enough. He runs his hand over his smooth head, his teeth dig into his bottom lip before her speaks again. "Clark is my best friend and Lex. Lex betrayed him in many ways."

Kara scoffs and she likes James, he's her friend, but Konnor is family and it had taken a month for James to get his act together and come to her about this. "Konnor is just a kid, don't treat him like he isn't."

James shakes his head quickly, heart thundering away in his chest. "I won't, I promise."

Kara bites at the corner of her lip, chest heavy with something, this need to make sure James can't hurt Konnor again. Rao was this how her mother felt every time Kara got into an argument with those around her, protective and so very angry? "Don't make promises you can't keep James."

He stares at her with earnest eyes. "I know. I know."

* * *

Kara walks through the open doors of the fish bowl, tablet in her hands. It looks like any other day from the last three years, though this time there is no coffee cup in her hand, the current assistant having left it at the corner of the desk. "Miss Grant."

"Kara." Cat straightens her spine, having been hunched, though she wouldn't admit it, over the desk. Narrowing her eyes and tapping her pen against the desk edge. "Come out of your hovel to greet us all?"

Kara rolls her eyes with a grin, she'd heard Cat walk by her office more than once while she was running around CatCo. "I was doing the department surveys."

Cat hums, pressing her pen to her lips. "And?" She leans back in her chair. "Give me the truth, not your nice words for their screw ups."

Kara straightens her spine, gripping the tablet with fingers than could bend steel. "The new girl for Print, Daisy, is doing all the work. The heads are slacking and dropping their extra work on her desk." Kara had watched it happen more than once, had listened to it when she was running through the Print floor. "She's good under pressure though, I've seen her corrections."

Cat narrows her eyes, almost glaring at the elevator, like she could magically force the heads of Print out of the elevator for her to strangle. "E-mail me their credentials with the work they completed this week. I want a meeting with the heads by three." She flicks her fingers at the tablet in Kara's hands. "Don't warn them. I want them to sweat when they get in there. Then get me a meeting with the girl, Deliah."

Kara barely suppresses her grin. "It's Daisy."

Cat rolls her eyes, waving her fingers dismissively. "Yes, yes. And the other heads?"

"James is doing well despite coming in the middle of the prints last year." Kara shifts on her feet, worrying her lip. "Kelso is falling behind though, his heart is acting up." She'd heard it puttering away, unsteady and with little to no pattern.

Cat purses her lips, bringing the pen down to lay on the desk. "Does he have insurance through CatCo?"

"Yes." Kara lets out a low sigh, fingers tightening on her tablet. "Though he used up premium with his husband's surgeries this year." And she hated the constant reminder that humans were fragile, that they could get sick. That they could die at any moment, it reminded her of Alex. Of how short her lifespan would be. How fragile Alex was compared to the circumstances she dealt with everyday.

"Hmm." Cat taps her fingers against her desk, thoughtful. "We'll update the forms, Perry recently emailed me his insurance list, if ours is better his people will jump ship and come to CatCo." They both ignore the soft edge to Cat's voice and Kara barely conceals a grin. "National General Hospital needs an article written as well, I want you to investigate their insurance policies, any discrimination they have."

Kara furrows her brow, tilting her head to the side. "Miss Grant?"

Cat arches an eyebrow. "Did I stutter?"

"No, I just." Kara tucks the tablet against her chest, almost stepping back as she shifts her feet, but Cat's steady gaze keeps her feet frozen to the spot. "Reporting?'

"It's a fluff piece, something to test the waters." Cat waves her hand around. "You did say you wanted to try everything. So chop chop. Get to it and make sure the assistant keeps his mouth shut about the meetings, he blathers on and on."

Kara bites her lip to keep her grin from spreading, she's one of the only people to see through Cat's facade. "Yes Miss Grant."

Kara turns to leave but Cat speaks up, voice ringing through the office. "Kara."

Kara half turns, tilts her head to the side, thinking back to anything she'd missed. "Yes Miss Grant?"

Cat's heart quickens slightly before steadying and her chin tilts up but her eyes are soft. "I saw the pamphlets on your desk while you were in Photo."

Kara furrows her brow, still half turned, fingers tightening on the tablet in confusion. "Yes?"

"Looking to send Konnor to a school." It's not a question, not the way Cat says it, with conviction and a knowing gleam in her eyes.

"Yeah, Alex want a place that had closed records." Kara shifts her feet, she had heard Cat pace beside her office this morning, had thought she was looking for her. Never thought that she had stumbled upon the stuff on her desk. "He's sensitive about his past. "

Cat hums, before writing something down quickly. "If he's as smart as you or Agent Scully then they'll enroll him immediately. Be sure he gets his transcripts in."

Kara fiddles with her glasses, confused as to why Cat is doing this. Talking about this, but Kara figures that Cat has more of a hold about raising a teenage boy and his schooling. Kara barely represses a grin, trying to imagine Cat dealing with a kryptonian teenager. "Oh, he was home schooled." 

Cat rolls her eyes, letting out a huff like Kara is too slow in this. "Have him take placement tests there then." 

Kara grabs the slip of paper gently as Cat holds it out to her, reading it quickly. Her eyes widen in shock. "This is where Carter goes."

"Yes." Cat draws the word out like Kara was denser than a rock. "And they're very discreet with their students, I wouldn't send Carter there if they weren't"

Kara lets her fingers curl into a fist, crumbling the paper between steel fingers. "Miss Grant?"

Cat stares at her for a few seconds, doesn't take her gaze away from Kara's and Kara fights to keep steady, to keep eye contact. "I take it Agent Scully has enemies that will like to get to something of hers, he'll be safe there." Cat waves her hand dismissively. "They only offer three scholarships a year so get to it Kara. Don't forget to go to National City General Hospital."

"Yes Miss Grant." Kara grins, slipping the paper and phone number into the pocket of her skirt. "And thank you."


	6. Is This Love

J'onn marches down to his office in the DEO tower. It is the only way to describe the way he moves down the halls, a purpose to his steps. His door opens easily under his fingers, the code quicker than anyone could see. There's a flutter of a mind on the other side of the door, sharp precise thoughts that he recognizes. He pushes through his door, shutting and locking it behind him quietly. His finger held up to the other occupant as he moves around the room and activates the anti-listening devices. With a faint hum in the room he sits down at his desk, letting his shoulders crack as he leans back into his chair. "Director Lane."

There's an almost impervious twitch to her lips, besides that her face remains as impeccable as her uniform. "It's Major right now."

He narrows his eyes, reading between the lines easily. "Are you not under DEO authority?"

Lucy purses her lips, files tight in her hands before she sets them down on the corner of his desk. "I just came from a meeting with some big wigs."

He knots his fingers together as he forces his jaw to relax and stay completely calm, Lucy is not the one at fault here. "What did they have to say?"

Her eyes flicker to the files that J'onn has yet to touch. "They have an inkling that a member of the government is being held by another, without probable cause."

He furrows his brows, leaning forward to looks down at the file now. "CADMUS has no stipulations by the government."

Lucy lets out a low hum, crossing her arms. "They know that, so I gave them the scenario. A member of said group is not a member of the government and will not be until the group aligns themselves by governmental rulings."

"You found a loophole." There's an inflection of pride in his tone as he looks up at her, gives her all of his attention.

Lucy shakes her head, fingers tightening from where they're crossed over her chest. "Until CADMUS abides by the government, another government facility can hold a member of their group within reason. Considering there was evidence being destroyed the government facility in question had enough probable cause. They can't get him back, not until they follow the same rules as the DEO under the President's orders."

J'onn leans forward, there's something eager in his face, something like hope. "And CADMUS holding a DEO agent?"

Lucy recognizes that hope, had had it blooming in her own chest long ago when she went to retrieve a POW, one of her troop mates. It had been crushed when they'd found her dead, a message to them. One that tore Lucy apart. Something in her chest wants her to protect J'onn, stop the words that will come out of her mouth. "Jeremiah Danvers was pronounced dead ten years ago, KIA. Until there is valid proof that they have him, that he is actually alive, then we can't investigate or hope to take him back."

"So they have their own loophole." J'onn murmurs quietly and that hope is squashed out of his eyes like her own had been. "The CADMUS soldier admitted it, we all heard him."

"I've seen the interrogation tapes, he's clammed up." She starts pacing the room, able to think more, and burn away her anger, with each step. "CADMUS stipulates that he was goading the DEO agents to attack first. Seeing as Alex did they believe his words were all an act."

J'onn's jaw tightens. "Do they know who attacked him?"

"They might have assumptions, but they won't know for sure." There's a soft but indefinable protectiveness that bleeds around Lucy, that calms J'onn's pattering heart at losing another of his own. A woman he had seen grow and change. "I told them that the DEO was selecting its punishment befitting of the offence and that we handle our own." 

A palpable relief softens the tension of the room but J'onn lets out a low huff, a sound that worked far better with his human body than his martian one. "We're playing with fire here."

Lucy nods sharply, lips pursed. "I've got my eye on it, once something changes I'll let you know."

"Thank you." He rubs at his chin. "The Zorgonot, the alien we thought escaped from CADMUS. How are they?"

"Jumpy, which is understandable." Lucy leans back against the wall, falling out of her Major Lane stance despite still being in uniform. "I had Doctor Hamilton do a medical examine to look for any abnormalities." She bites her lip, brows furrowing before she plows on like she had when Lois and she were just kids and had too many questions. Lois brash and loud and Lucy beside her, quiet and thoughtful but just as piercing. "The wounds don't correspond with being experimented on."

J'onn leans forward, dark face contorting in concentration and worry. "What is it consistent with then?"

Lucy lets her fists unfurl, a soft huffing sigh leaving her nose. "Fighting."

There's a deep martian rumble coming from him chest, too alien in his human form. "CADMUS is pitting them against each other?"

"That's what it looks like." She shakes her head, fingers shoving stray hair from curling around out of the bun and around her eye. "But why?"

"It doesn't make sense, CADMUS experiments. Unless they are testing their byproducts, their experiments, fighting makes no sense." His large hands rubs at the top of his head, finding the short hair of his human form instead of the smooth of his martian, and he feels a sense of wrongness like he always does despite being in this body for ten years. "Konnor saw nothing of the sort in there. Have they said anything?"

Lucy shifts her legs as she stands in front of him, letting her knee pop like it always does. "Only in their language, even the language translator can't crack it."

"Keep at it, we need to know what its saying." He eyes her curiously, can feel something in the air, swirling around her head. "There's something else you want to say, I can feel it."

Lucy frowns, not looking away from him but instead staring right at his forehead. "You'd make a good lawyer, knowing when to push. How to."

He can feel the turmoil around her thoughts, pressing and pressing, over and over. Meticulous and consuming. As sharp as she is. "Lucy."

Her thoughts quit pressing into him and they loose their sharpness as her face gains it. "My dad's coming to National City."

"Why?"

"He wants dinner with me." There's something dark across her face and even darker in her mind. J'onn does not chase it, does not look where he is not wanted or warranted. "He'll stop by the DEO to see how we're doing. A check up." And her voice catches, eyes going hard.

J'onn is terse inflection and a sudden wariness. "He is within the rights to check on the DEO." 

"Of course he is." It'd be a scoff if any one else had said it like she does, but Lucy walks the line of professionalism well. Even if J'onn doesn't mind the unprofessional version of Lucy. "But he'll be gunning for kryptonite."

"How do you know that?"

She moves forward then, pacing in front of his desk. Heels that match the bun on her head and the skirt on her hips clicking sharply across the floor. "I grew up with him, I worked with him. I _know_ him J'onn. Vasquez has those bait vans going, leaving bread crumbs everywhere." She stops her pacing to meet J'onn's gaze. "If my dad catches track of it."

"You think he'll betray us to get the kryptonite." There's no surprise in his voice, just a thin resignation. 

She doesn't even hesitate, having seen her father around aliens, around Supergirl and in the DEO. "Probably, but he won't be the mole." She lets out a scoff now, jaw clenched. "At least not the one giving information to CADMUS. He'll scare the real mole into hiding if he gets the kryptonite."

J'onn's human chest rumbles and his eyes threaten to change but he keeps his calm. "Before he is here, change the transport going out and coming in. Do weapons, anything but kryptonite. We'll keep it up for two weeks after he's gone before deploying the bait vans again. I don't want him getting his hands on kryptonite."

"He won't." There's something resolute in her tone that changes the air in the room.

"Good." J'onn smiles at her, relaxing back into his seat slightly. "How is everyone?"

Lucy purses her lips. "The ones who respected you the most gave me the least trouble."

He leans forward again, his brow furrowed curiously. He could feels the words swirling around her head, could pick them out if he wanted. But he's always been good about letting people speak their minds instead of searching it for them. "But?"

"The ones who were just okay with your leadership are questioning mine, they think I'm going to betray the DEO for the Army." There's a searching look under her gaze, her heart stays steady in her chest despite the way her lungs feel like they're being squished.

"I trust you Lucy." Lucy's chest halts, there's something to be said about the man everyone looks up to saying those words. Words she'd yet to ever hear from her father. "Soon they all will. You are good and they will see that just as I do."

Lucy swallows back her emotion, keeps her face as impassive as it is when she goes on trial. "Thanks."

His lips twitch, a barely perceived smile. "Send Agent Danvers in."

Lucy's left eyebrow twitches and he can feel the mirth dancing in her mind. "Good luck Director."

He lets out a low sigh, Alex was always gunning to work, especially after having two days off. He had put off Alex's punishment until she came back, hoping time away would calm her. He prayed he was right. "I shall need it." He smiles at her now, barely a twitch of his lips, but it's enough. "Director Lane."

She lets out a soft snort. "Director Henshaw." And she spins, exiting the room easily off to grab Alex. J'onn having felt her walk into the building, Konnor beside her. He rubs at his hair, it was going to be a long day.

* * *

* * *

* * *

There's anger bleeding from Alex's mind, swirling around the room. Heavy and consuming. J'onn barely stops from pinching his brow, instead closing off his mind completely, letting the anger he felt coming from her stop pressing against his mind. "This is bullshit J'onn!"

He lets out a low sound. "Alex."

"No." If he were anyone else she would be the perfect solider, wouldn't be talking back, but this is J'onn. This is the man who saw her at her worst and still loved her. Still believed in her. "Why am I suspended?!"

His hands slam down on the table to stop her rant and she stiffens, snapping her mouth shut and meeting his gaze. "You are lucky I am the one dolling out the punishment and that it is only field suspension, I could have done lab as well."

Her jaw clenches, like she's holding back her anger before it relaxes, her shoulders slumping. "Why?" There's no accusation to it now, just a brokenness.

"You disobeyed orders to capture and retreat." He's soft, softer than he would be with the others, but Alex has always been different than everyone else. "You injured a fellow agent as well as brutally beating a suspect."

"He deserved it." Alex scoffs out.

Her vindication and anger bleed into the air again, he can taste it like soured milk. It's not her normal anger. It's not the feel of a slow ember gradually building, but an explosion. Dangerous and sporadic, nothing like the Alex he knew and trained for two years. "It is not our place to decide whether another person deserves our anger and fists."

It's a roaring inferno now, not quite like it was when she had come in, fist bloodied and entire body trembling with rage after the mission. But it is an all too familiar rage. "You didn't hear what he was saying! What they did to my father!"

"I know what it is like to lose someone you love." He feels her guilt seep slowly into the air at forgetting his loss. He wishes to be an pathokinetic alien in this instance. Wishes to calm these emotions that always tear at her. So very familiar he aches inside. "I would have given anything to kill a white martian, to make them pay. But you and Kara taught me better, don't let your hatred and anger cloud who you really are Alex."

She trembles. "How, how did you stop from killing them? I didn't." Her hands continue to shake, if J'onn was anyone else she would be hiding them. Would be standing tall and emotionless. "He hurt my father. He threatened  _Kara._ I wanted to kill him. Make him pay for what he did, what he _planned."_ That anger is there, a hinge of crazed protectiveness that could burn down the world, with her in the middle of it.

J'onn reaches for her hand, smooth his large hands over her scabbed knuckles. The tenseness to her forearms relax slightly. "We take those urges and we think through them. If i'd have killed the white martian I would have lost what good I was. The good that came from my daughters, from my mate. I was good to them, for them. They would not have recognized me if I had the blood of a battle-less kill on my hands. A _tainted_ kill."

"My father wouldn't even recognize me now." Self-deprecation oozes from her, sticky around his mind. Cloying with the sheer amount of it. Alex had always bled it, seemed unable to stop. It had lessened over the years, but now it's almost as strong as before. Almost as strong as when she stank of sweat, alcohol and bad decisions. "I became a soldier instead of a doctor. Instead of a scientist."

"Your father would be proud of you Alex." He squeezes her hand, wishing again he could show her how everyone sees her. Could press the love people felt for her into her. She always doubted herself and it made him ache. "You did what was necessary to protect your family, same as he did. You are much more alike than you realize."

* * *

* * *

Kara searches the coffee shop, before her ears prick, catching Lena's voice and the slightly more garbled voice of another person. She hurries over to her, grinning all the while. She had wanted lunch with Alex but the human told her to go without her and Konnor. So she'd sent out a text to Lena, wishing to keep an olive branch out. 

Lena looks up at her and smiles, hanging up her phone. There's a pinch to the corner of her eyes. Nerves, like she thought Kara was lying. Like Kara didn't actually to go to lunch. Actually want to be her friend. "Lena!" Kara's voice is as vibrant as her smile and Lena relaxes, her shoulders loosening like she hadn't realized they were tight.

"Kara." There's a twitch of her lips, as if she wants to smile but is holding back.

Kara sits down, knees knocking against the table. She catches the glass on it before it can tip over. "Did you order already?"

Kara watches Lena's nose twitch, a soft expression of confusion and caution. "I waited for you."

Kara tilts her head. "Oh, you didn't have to do that. They know my order by heart."

Lena's eyes widen ever so slightly and she looks around the shop quickly. "How often do you eat here?"

Kara grins, wide and slightly proud. "I worked as Cat Grant's assistant for three years, this was the closest coffee place and it had exactly what she wanted."

Lena's eyebrow arches up. "So you eat here a lot?" Kara blushes, shoving her glasses up her nose and murmuring in the positive. Lena's face softens impossibly so and she shakes her head all in good nature. "Kara Danvers, I do not know how you are alive."

"I eat enough greens." Kara scoffs out.

Lena snorts, the noise covered behind her hand like she expects a camera to catch her impossibly human moment. "Pistachio ice cream doesn't count."

Kara splutters before huffing. "Whatever." Kara looks around the room quickly, senses honing in easily. It's crowded with the lunch rush and people are looking at Lena, murmuring softly under their breaths in a tone only Kara can hear. Still Lena grows minusculely more tense with each eye darting their way and Kara furrows her brow before standing suddenly. Chair scraping back as she grabs at Lena's wrist gently, pulling her to her feet. "C'mon."

Lena stumbles to her feet. "Wha-what?" Her normally impeccable face is contorted in confusion. 

"We'll walk and eat outside." Kara tugs at her wrist again, as gentle as a feather, her gaze softened as if Lena would shatter. "You need some sun."

Lena stumbles after Kara before catching her footing easily and Kara lets the slight guilt at making her stumble fall away when Lena's shoulders relax. The atmosphere of the coffee shop dropping away when they get outside. "I don't need any sun Kara, I burn."

Kara shakes her head with a soft smile. "You won't burn, I promise. You get some sun and I'll get something green."

"Healthy green." Lena says without hesitation, knowing Kara would find a loophole. Kara lets out a grumble agreement and Lena keeps pace with her, people easily dodge around the two of them. Any that don't move bump into Kara first, grumbling and rubbing their shoulders. Lena shakes her head, Kara's broad shoulders would be enough to clear the walkway on their own. "Where are you taking me? Not to another food truck?" Despite the food being good, Lena's face is slowly contorting into something resembling resignation.

"No." Kara grins at Lena, sniffing at the air to catch the waif from all the food. "Winn showed me this really cool Thai place a few months back. You'll like it."

Lena's heels click against the concrete in a steady beat. "How far?"

"Not very." Kara motions with her hand to a street down the sidewalk. "A few blocks and then down an alley."

Lena stiffens, heart moving at a slightly quicker pace. "An alley?" Kara's eyes flit to Lena, searching for the reason for the quickening of her pulse. The pinch in her brow is barely there.

Kara smiles, tapping her finger against Lena's elbow before pulling her finger back to tangle in the loops of her own pants. "It's small but good, you can't sit down though so we'll sit at the park."

"I have a meeting tomorrow morning then a photo with the new research department." Her heart slow as Kara steps closer to her, forcing the people around them to bump into Kara instead of Lena. "I can't be red as a tomato Kara."

Kara grins at Lena as a man stumbles into a kryptonian hard shoulder, grumbling as he scowls back at a grinning Kara. "You won't be, promise." They duck through the alley, Kara close to Lena's side until she knocks at the door. The top hatch of it opens inwards and Kara waves enthusiastically at the woman there. "Hey JJ."

"Kara." The woman intones softly. Her thick dark hair, soft streaks of grey through it, is hidden under a hairnet and her eyes are as soft as her voice. "Usual?"

Kara lets a grimace cross her face much to Lena's amusement. "More veggies this time."

JJ looks over Kara shoulder, spotting Lena before searching the alley for another person. Not finding him she murmurs softly. "Konnor coming to lunch then?"

Kara shakes her head, wincing. "No, he and Alex are busy right now, but Lena here promised to get some sun if I ate some healthy greens."

JJ laughs before tilting her head back and speaking quickly to someone in the kitchen behind her. There's a murmur of agreement and JJ looks back at Kara. "It'll be out in just a few minutes." She tilts her head, lips twitching in Lena's direction. "I'm glad you're getting some more vegetables into her diet, not even Alex has managed that."

Lena smirks, slight and too amused at Kara's expense. "A barter system seems to work well. Maybe you should mention it to Alex."

JJ lets out a loud laugh at this. "Alex caves under Kara's pout, there's no helping the girl."

Lena eyes Kara but the girl gives her a wide eyed innocent look that makes Lena roll her own eyes. "Then I suppose you and I will have to get more greens into her."

JJ hums low. "Alex as well, the girl is just as bad as Kara. They're lucky the boy likes vegetables."

Kara lets out a huff. "I'm right here y'know." The huff is displaced by a slight twitching of her lips, too amused and happy to keep her frown long.

Someone says something behind JJ and she turns around, grabbing a box of food before pushing it into Kara's hands, Kara hands money beck, refusing the change. "Bye JJ! Thanks for the food." JJ mutters something behind them as Kara leads Lena away from the alley.

When they make it to the park it is full of dogs that rush to Kara and children that grin at her. Lena watches cautiously as Kara greets them all, leading Lena further and further through the park until the sound dies away. Kara throws her cardigan on the ground motioning for Lena to sit. Lena hesitates before Kara flops down onto the ground, not on the cardigan. Letting out a soft sigh Lena settles onto the cardigan between her and the ground. The cardigan easily keeping the grass off her skirt. Kara grins at her as she passes Lena a box, beginning to stuff her own food into her mouth in the same motion.

Lena takes a few bite, soaking up the sun and the breeze. Calm and quiet as she eats her food. Much better than the atmosphere at the cafe, even if she might burn. "How'd you find this place?"

"Alex found it." Kara grins, leaning back. Her shoulders bare and hair glowing in the sun as she soaks up the light. "I was having an off day one of my first days at CatCo a few years back. I stopped by her place mid panic and she dragged me here. It was one in the morning and she had a 7 am test the next day, but she stayed up with me."

Lena tilts her head slightly, Kara's face always lit up when she said Alex's name. It was a sight to see. "She sounds nice." And she sound more than that, sweeter than honey and protective as hell, but Lena doesn't want to overstep boundaries, not when Kara hasn't explicitly stated anything.

Kara's face softens and there's broccoli caught in her teeth but she's as gorgeous as ever, especially when she talks about Alex. "She is. She's amazing with Konnor."

Lena's lips twitch at the thought of the awkward boy who had stood taller than both of them but stumbled in social situations like Lena once had. "How is he doing?"

"Good, very good. We've had bumps but we're working on it." Kara ducks her head and there's something resembling guilt there that Kara shakes away as she grins at Lena. "I think you and he would get along."

"Why?"

"He's smart, like genius smart." There's a compliment in there Lena knows, but Kara's face is bright with love and tender care, pride. "He likes to learn new things."

More than intrigued Lena leans forward, meeting like minded people was always a treat, especially ones who gave herself a run at intelligence. Especially so _young._ "Where did he go to school before he came to live with you?"

"He was home schooled mostly." Kara bites her lip, there's a hesitation to her and Lena fears Kara is remembering who she's talking to. That Lena is a Luthor and all Luthors brought was destruction and chaos, but Kara isn't everyone else as Lena's finding out. She plows on like Lena's heart hadn't stuttered and her face hadn't paled. "We're thinking of sending him to an actual school."

Lena stares at Kara, full of understanding finally. This isn't because of Lena's last name but Kara fear of failing. Of doing wrong by Konnor. "Is he nervous?"

Kara plays with the box of food, staring down at it, brow furrowed. It reminds her of Lionel, when Lillian and he tried to keep the camera's off of them. Tried to keep them hidden. The face of a person who hoped they were doing right by someone that relied on them. "He doesn't know Alex and I are thinking of sending him, we need to talk to him about it first."

Lena sets down her own fork, awkward as she can be with talking to someone who wasn't looking to stab her in the back or gain something from her. So she plows on like she had with chess, methodical and precise. No hesitation and gathering all the information she could. "Why not home school him?"

"Alex, Alex wants him to have a normal life." There's a scoff in there somewhere, like Kara doesn't believe in normal. "Wants him to go to school with kids his age. I just want him to be happy. Alex thinks some normality might make him happy. "

Lena lets out a soft sound of understanding, Kara was far from ordinary from what she saw. Sure most people would assume she was nothing but ordinary, but Lena saw the hidden depth. Saw the wiring behind all the plating, Konnor had that same hidden thing. Something barely tangible. "Is anything really normal?"

"No." Kara laughs. "But Alex wants to give him a shot at something he hasn't had before. I kinda want that too, but she's afraid of messing up." Her gaze goes soft, loving like Lena had seen it go many times. 

Lena's fingers twitch and she curls them into her palm to keep from reaching out and pressing into Kara's knuckles for comfort. She never knew how people would respond to physical affection from her, especially someone she had only been friends with for a scant near two weeks. "From what I've seen he is a very well adjusted boy. He's lucky to have you both."

"Thank you." And Kara grins back at her, the wary fear falling away like it had never been there at all. "Tell me about your day."

Lena arches a brow, wanting to keep that fearful look from coming back to Kara face. "Is this friend Kara or reporter Kara?" 

Kara laughs, shaking her head. "I've told you, i'm no reporter."

Lena leans forward, tilting her head. Kara was sweet enough to get the story from people without realizing she was pulling it from them. Lena had spoken more on things she hadn't meant to because Kara had an air about her. Like she'd seen more than the average person, but could relate. A face and persona that begged you to tell her all your secrets. She'd make an excellent reporter, or maybe a therapist. "Why not?"

"I don't." Kara furrows her brow, staring at the sun like it had all the answer, no, not the sun, a place to the left of it. "I don't know if i'll do reporting. If I was to actually do it, I'd want to unveil the bad in the world. I mean i'd like to be a reporter but I couldn't do the vanilla stuff." And she blushes, fingers twisting together. "I'd want to turn in corrupt politicians, expose the bad of the world, but also the good. But i'm biased in my writing, I know that much."

Lena's eyes are bright, interested. "So what do you consider bad, good?"

Kara's eyes spark like Lena just handed her an entire plate of pot-stickers. "There's so much beauty in this world but all anybody sees is another thing to hate, and that, that's the bad. All this _hate_ in the world." She's oozing love, joy and hope. Like the world curves under her hands and her eyes see behind every shroud. "What I want is people to marry the people they want to. I want religion to be free. I want the world to be a better place, immigrant escaping danger to be welcomed. I want the wars to stop. I just wish people could see the world I see. That they could see the good instead of the bad. The beauty instead of that hate." There's a soft look Lena had only seen a few times on Kara's face, so gentle it seems a breeze would take it away.

"If only everyone saw the world the way you do." Lena's chest is heavy but her voice soft, softer than satin and just as lovely.

Kara shakes her head, seemingly coming back to herself. "You dodged my question." Lena's eyes spark in amusement and Kara grins at her, leaning forward. "Tell me about your day?"

"It started off with coffee, then a reporter dragging me down an alleyway. I'm hoping it will end with me asleep, in my bed."

Kara lets out a groan. _"Lena."_

Lena laughs, it's nice to have someone who isn't afraid to call Lena out. One who is full of so much love yet a steel backbone, unwilling to bend or break. "Jess chased away more reporters, she has a knack for that. Mostly." Lena lips twitch and Kara lets out a soft snort at the teasing lit to the CEO's voice. "I've spoken to my research and development department, we're in competition with Lord Tech." Kara scoffs and Lena tilts her head curiously, there's something deeper than annoyance in the noise that escaped Kara's throat. "What?"

Lips pursed Kara lets out the sound again, looking as regale as Lillian had when she tore competitors down. Lionel standing behind her, watching his wife move with derisive fluidity. "Lord Tech is no competition, your technology is better."

"And how do you know this?" Kara blushes, dropping her chin and stammering. Lena smirks wryly. "Here I thought you weren't a reporter, yet here you are, scoping out the competition."

Kara changes, the awkwardness falls away and there's a hard edge to her as she scowls, jaw tight. Almost dangerous. "He is no competition to you. Maxwell Lord is not a pleasant man."

"Oh, I know this." Lena looks her over, under all that Danvers charm and innate awkwardness is a darkness. Something heavy and angry. Lena recognizes it, so very familiar with it herself.

Kara lets out a sigh, the darkness is tinged in worry. "I just. Just be careful with him. He hasn't started much up since the Wave, but he's an eel."

Lena waits in the heavy silence, eyes taking in the almost alien tenseness to Kara before she tilts her head down. "Slimy and ugly?" Kara laughs loud and free at that. That not so hidden darkness fading away. Lena arches her brow, chest feeling lighter for the first time in weeks. "Or shockingly inept?" Kara snorts at this, shaking her head at Lena's words and Lena finally lets a small smile twitch across her lips.

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

Alex and Konnor are sitting in their living room, Konnor's feet pressed into her right knee as he's slumps in the chair. They'd had dinner together, all three of them, before Kara had been called away for a CatCo emergency. She had left two hours ago with a kiss to their cheeks, telling them to have fun. So far they had managed to sit in their respective spots and watch a documentary on sharks. Then one on whales.

Alex leans forward, there's still this heaviness of the day resting in her chest ever since her conversation with J'onn. She was on a short leash, unable to train with her team and not authorized any where else other than her lab and the garage. Konnor had moved between her lab and the Green Room throughout the day before J'onn had finally told her, and subsequently Konnor, to go home. They'd made it home just as Kara had, dinner in her hands. Right now Konnor is staring at the TV blankly and Alex lets out a soft questioning sound. "What do you want to do?"

His toes wiggle against her knee and he shrugs, not taking his eye off the TV. "I don't know."

She lets out a grunt before grabbing his foot and teasingly pinching at his toes. "C'mon, grab your helmet." He scrambles off the chair quickly, shoving his feet into his boots and running to grab his favorite jacket, still too big for him, from his room. Alex's lips twitch and that heavy feeling in her chest begins to recede. She grabs her own jacket off the counter and her helmet off the hook. Konnor speeds out of his room, a little too quick to be human and she holds back her laughter as he skids around the corner to her. His hands eagerly grab his helmet and then he is by her side, almost vibrating with energy.

They hurry down the stairs to the motorcycle, Konnor's longer legs and speed moving him quicker down the stairs but Alex is the one climbing on first despite the boy beating her by at least fifteen feet. Konnor hesitates for a second, getting a grasp on his powers. When Kara drove he didn't have to worry about squeezing her so hard, but this was Alex, and Alex was so painfully human. With a deep breath he climbs on behind her shoving his head into his helmet and flipping his visor up so it doesn't cover his eyes.

Alex snorts but flicks her own down so the wind won't burn her eyes. With a twitch of her fingers and foot the engine revs and Konnor slips his arms around her waist. He could hold onto the side of the bike if he wanted, but he doesn't. Yet Alex doesn't stiffen in fear or caution despite his greater than human strength. And he shouldn't be so shocked, shouldn't feel something happy bloom in his chest when she takes the turns sharper, when she weaves between cars just to get him to laugh. The wind is cold against his face but it brings the smell of the city to him, thick and full of so many different things. He could pick them out if he wanted too, Kara showing him how, but he doesn't. He lets them fill his lungs and then leave, takes happiness from the way the bike roars in his ears. The way the wind whips at his eyes and nose and the way Alex chuckles each time his laughter sounds louder than the traffic around them.

The streets thin out, traffic dying down as they move through the streets until they hit a place with more trees than the rest of the city. There's a hint of hotdogs in the air, sweat and animals. But there's also the scent of plants, thick and sweet, nothing like the labs. Alex shuts off the bike and pulls her helmet off, she closes her eyes and pulls in a deep breath like she can smell everything he can too.

He climbs off slowly, pulling his helmet off and resting it beside hers as she climbs off. "Why are we here?"

She looks up at the sky, dark and full of stars, the faint haze of city lights at the edge of her vision. "It's the only place with a clear sky."

Konnor looks around, it is clearer than the rest of the city, but Konnor had greater vision than Alex. He could see the sky in any part of the city. "So?"

"My father used to take me to see the stars." She leads him away from the motorcycle, moving around the park, through the trees and past children's play equipment. "It was at the top of a hill in a field behind our yard. Mom was working on another dissertation and I was always underfoot." The incline changes and the begin to walk up hill, the trees growing slightly thicker around them.

Blunt as always he doesn't hesitate to question her. "Why?"

"I was curious." She smiles, but its half hearted, she'd been like that all day. A little lost and Konnor aches to fix it like she and Kara fix his own pains. "I was too smart for my own good, read all the books they put in front of me. But I asked question."

He tilts his head, brow furrowed. Hands shoved into the pockets of the old leather jacket Alex had given him. "Like I do?"

"Yes." She stops at the top of what could be a hill, the city sounds have died away, muffled by the trees and the sky is dark above them, stars gleaming. She pulls in another deep breath.

He eyes her cautiously, confused, Alex always encourage him to ask his questions. Never told him to stop. "They didn't like that?"

She sits down with a grunt and he can hear bones creaking and joints popping, he chews on his lip as she speaks. "They liked that I was smart, curious. I was their daughter, they loved me."

He sits down next to her, barely making a sound as he searches her face. "Why do you look sad then?"

"Sometimes, sometimes being smart is hard." She leans back on her hands, head tilted to the sky. He can understand not wanting to make eye contact. Not wanting to have someone see the way your emotions dance across your face. He tilts his own head back to look at the sky, to try and see what she sees. "Instead of toys I got science sets. I loved them, believe me, but my first year of school I was ostracized. Nobody liked the smart girl." She lets out a chuckle, deep and slightly self-deprecating. "I corrected the teachers."

He itches to look at her, but he respects the need of privacy to your own pains. "So you were lonely?" 

He can see her shrug from the corner of his eyes. "Sometimes, but I had my parents."

He looks at her now then, confused. "But you said they were annoyed by your questions."

"Not annoyed, but they had time crunches. Dad was working with, with Superman." Konnor tenses and Alex's hand moves to squeeze his wrist in comfort. His fingers relax, letting the dirt and grass crumble back into place. "He was just a boy and he needed all the help he could get. Sometimes I would watch them." She sits up slightly now, knees drawn up to her chest as she releases his wrist. "And they'd laugh with him."

Something like wonder dances in his eyes, like he's solved a puzzle. "You hated him even then?"

She rests her cheek on her knee, hands wrapped around her legs. "Sometimes."

He splays his legs out, but his hands press into his thighs as he stares at Alex's profile. "Is that why you hate him now?"

"No, he." There's that deep anger in her voice now. As if she'd throw Superman into the sun given the chance. "He abandoned Kara, he abandoned you."

Konnor lets out a soft sound. "I am his clone, he owes me nothing."

Alex whips her head around to look at him, eyes wide and chest still. "Konnor."

"No, I understand that now." He meets her gaze before looking up at the stars, putting words to emotions he couldn't comprehend. "I am his blood but he did not expect me. I was unwanted."

She reaches for him now. There's that slight pause, always there, like she expects him to reject her, before her hand grips his own. "You are wanted Konnor."

He nods, and his own trembling fingers slip around her thin human fragile wrist, small under his large hands. It calms him. "By you and Kara, but not by him."

"Konnor." It cracks from her chest like it hurts and something inside of him grows and splinters all the same.

"I understand this Alex." His hand not holding Alex's wrist clenches. "I do not like it, or him, but I _understand."_ They sit in silence for a little bit, her heart beats steady in her wrist, against his palm. "Finish."

She looks at him in confusion. "What?"

He lets go of her wrist, leaning back like they had when they first got here. "Your story."

She blinks, looking up into the sky like it gave her everything. Maybe it did, it deposited Kara into her life. Konnor lets himself think it brought him into her life as well. "My dad and mom worked with him, mom worked on her dissertations at the same time and I was." She puts her head back on her knees and her voice is so low he can barely hear it. "I was lonely, I surpassed all my classmates but I failed socially, I was too quiet out of class. They sent notes home, mom told me to talk more." Alex scoffs. "Like she hadn't heard me go on a twenty minute rant about DNA and the audacity of Watson and Crick."

He furrows his brow like he couldn't understand. "Your mom loves you?"

Her lips tremble and she nods, slowly as if to assure him as well as herself. "She does, but she's always had a hard time showing it. She was the second child, she had to live up to her parents expectations. Had to surpass her sister and she didn't get where she is in life by being soft."

He wonders how someone who lacked at showing love could produce Alex. Could produce a woman who loved so fiercely and loyally and he hopes that despite blood you are your own. That if Alex can show her love unlike her mother then he won't be like Lex Luthor. He won't be like Superman. That maybe he can be his own. "Your father?"

"He showed his love easy." Konnor stiffens at that, maybe you are your blood then, at least one half of it. He didn't know which half he wanted of his own. "But he was a scientist. He got distracted by his work easily, but they loved me. I knew that much."

He looks up slowly, searching for answers in the sky. "And the stars?"

"He would take me star gazing, it was our time." There's something soft yet painful to her, and he wants to hug her close like they do for him. He wants to yell for Kara and have her help pull this brokenness from Alex's chest. "He'd tell me all the stories, everything I wanted to know. I felt loved out there under the stars. Not as lonely." They're silent for a long time, staring at the sky.

"Can you tell me about the stars?" He looks frightful, eyes wide like she'll turn him down.

"Yeah, pick a star." He warily looks at the sky, almost as if he'll make a wrong choice and she'll tell them they have to leave. There's a painful clench to her chest and she nudges his foot with her own. "It's not a test, i'll tell you all the stories I know, and the ones I don't we'll look up together."

He points at a random star in the sky. "That one, what's it's story?"

* * *

* * *

Kara and Alex stay in the living room after Konnor's gone to bed. Still growing into his height, a teenager and half human, his energy had been depleted for the day especially with the sun gone and him having stayed out too late with Alex and the stars. Kara can hear his barely there snores, the thump of his slow heart as Kara moves towards the couch. Alex's heart beats slightly quicker than his but still calm in front of her. There's a half empty mug of now lukewarm tea cradled in Alex's hands and she's staring at the city through the large windows. Kara drops down onto the couch beside her. "How'd it go?"

"I showed him the stars." Kara leans into Alex's side, knowing Alex wants her touch but won't ask for it.

Kara tucks her head into Alex's shoulder. Breathing in the scent of her, fingers tangling with Alex's across Alex's abdomen as Alex drops the mug onto the side table. "I remember those times, I used to focus on your heart. It was always so calm then." Said heart beats a slow steady rhythm, as soothing as it always had been.

Alex lets out a soft sound. "It was the only time I didn't feel the pressure." Kara nods along, understanding in more ways than one. "I wanted Konnor to feel that way."

Kara presses her smile against Alex's chest. "You're good at this."

Alex lets out a scoff. "No, i'm not."

Kara tightens her hold on the other woman. _"Alex."_

"Kara, please." She sounds so defeated then that everything in Kara's chest threatens to shatter.

Kara pulls back, hands far too tight, near bruising. One on Alex's bicep and the other tangle with a hand still sporting scabbed knuckles. "You don't see it, but I do. He trusts you so easily. Has since he first met you."

Alex searches her face, soft eyed and full of love. "He trusts you too, you mean the world to him."

Kara lets out a laugh, soft and quiet and her grip loosens. "Its not a competition, he trusts us both." Alex turns her head to the side, lips pursed. "Alex, look at me." Fingers that can bend steels move Alex's chin with such gentleness until they're face to face, breath intermingling. "I love you, nothing will make me love you any less, so stop over-thinking."

Alex lets out a huff that flutters the hair curling around Kara's ears and chin. "Sometimes I hate that you can do that." Alex's voice is full of too much love to be completely serious and Kara hums in as Alex relaxes into her, pulling Kara's head to her, fingers tangling in her hair. "I love you too, y'know."

Kara nods against her chest. "I know." She presses even closer to Alex, breathing in as deep as she can, letting her heart thud slower and slower. Her eyes slip closed and she hums into Alex's chest. "I love you Alex." Alex's heart skips like it always does, like she's still shocked that Kara loves her. It make Kara tighten her hold. They rest like that for awhile, Alex's fingers running through Kara's hair and Kara's head pressed over Alex's heart, content in each-other arms.

* * *

* * *

 The next day is Konnor's day with Kara and he easily follows her into CatCo. He follows her to the direction of Cat's office only to stop. There's a boy, shorter than him, shorter than Kara, staring up at him in wary curiosity. His blue eyes dart between Kara and Konnor. Konnor stares right back at him, the human boy's hummingbird heart fluttering away like it might fly from his chest. Kara's face is a soft sort of recognition that forces Konnor to relax at the new face and the too quick heart.

"Konnor, this is Carter." Kara is grinning widely at both boys. "Carter, this is Konnor."

Carter ducks his head, not meeting Konnor's eyes. Cat is watching them from the fishbowl with narrowed eyes, listening. "I like your scarf." Konnor mumbles, remembering how Kara greets people, enthusiastic and far nicer than need be.

Carter darts his eyes up, fingers digging into the straps of his backpack. "Thank you." He meets Konnor's bright eyes before looking back down at his shoes. Konnor just grunts and looks to Kara who is beaming at them.

Her hands flutter, touching Carter's elbow once before darting away. Almost as if it had never been there. "Do you want a snack Carter? I was just running to get some for Konnor and I." Carter is stiff shoulders and he shrugs. "I can bring you back something." She's smiling at him, soft around the edges.

"Okay, are you going to Noonan's?" His eyes flicker to Konnor again, wary. He blinks at the too tall boy who is now staring out the balcony window at one of the birds that manages to swoop around the building, navigating the sudden changes of wind easily between the buildings. Other-world blue eyes are filled with wonder and longing as he stares at the bird. Konnor's vision zooms in and he watches the wind pressing down on wings. Carter relaxes at the intent focus Konnor gives the bird.

Kara is smiling, fingers brushing Carter's elbow again for another barley there second, gentle and calming. "Yeah, Konnor likes their shakes." Kara tilts her head, sniffing as something waifs to her. There's a crackle of something, she'd toned her hearing way down when she came into CatCo so she can't quite make out what it is. Without a thought she lessens the reigns on her hearing and barely hears the hiss over the speakers before the fire-alarm begins blaring. Konnor reacts violently, covering his ears and dropping to his knees with a thud. His eyes are squeezed shut, so focused on the bird that he had allowed his control over his hearing to wane. Carter has his own hands clamped over his ears and Cat is hurrying out of the office, going to Carter's side as Kara leans down next to Konnor.

Cat presses a small piece of fabric, soft and worn into Carter's hand as Kara winces with each blare of the fire alarm. Her hands hover over Konnor before grabbing his elbow, squeezing gently, in a pattern that keeps beat with a heart. Konnor is making a low keening noise in his chest. Smoke is billowing up from one of the windows below them. "Kara." Cat's voice is sharp, worried. Carter has the fabric pressed to his face, fingers clutched in it as he let his mother keep her hands pressed over his ears. 

Kara nods her consent. "Go, I'll get him out."

Cat is tense, but Carter is her priority, always. She begins to lead him away, down the stairs after her orderly but slightly panicked workers. Winn grabs Konnor's leather jacket from where the boy had folded it on the back of Winn's chair. "Kara." He presses it to her hands and she throws it over Konnor's shoulders, heaving him to his feet easily. 

"Winn, I need you to put your hands over his. He needs a human heartbeat." Winn does as he's told as Kara taps Winn's beat against his elbow. They're slowly leading him to and down the stairs, his limp legs dragging as she holds Konnor around his waist and elbow.

They're down five flight of stairs when he starts breathing at a regular pace, no longer quick and keening. Blue eyes flutter open and he stares at them in blurry confusion. He gets his feet under him, leaning into Kara's side. His hands come up to grip Winn's, pressing them into his ears again. Winn is walking behind them, elbows pressed into Konnor's shoulders as he keeps pace with them despite the awkward angle.

They hit the outside air and Kara leads them down an alley, away from the others and the scream of the sirens. Winn grins at her, a soft worried twitch of his lips. "I got him, put the fire out Supergirl."

"I-" She stares at Konnor who is pressed into Winn's chest, a child in all aspects, tired and terrified.

Konnor nods, slow and understanding. Kara zooms away with guilt weighing heavy in her stomach, her clothes dropping to the ground below her. Winn begins prattling away about coding, keeping his hands pressed into Konnor's ears. He'd seen enough of these attacks in the homes he'd been in, had been friends with Kara long enough to know what to do. Five minutes later, when he get into the coding of another game Kara drops next to them. With a whoosh of displaced air she's just Kara again, Supergirl hidden. 

Konnor and Winn are still sitting on the alley floor. Konnor's eyes open and clear, listening to Winn go on and on. Konnor's hands had fallen away from his ear but he had kept a tight hold on one of Winn's, just to keep the beat of Winn's heart.

"Konnor, hey." She drops down next to him, knees digging into the concrete.

Konnor stares at her, eyes wide in an almost child-like confusion. "Why?"

Her fingers press into his knee, tapping out Winn's heartbeat gently, unconsciously. "You let your guard down, I've done it more times than I can count. It's a sensory overload." Her fingers smooth over his knee now. "You just have to find something to ground you when everything gets too much."

He stands slowly, letting go of Winn's hand. She and Winn stand as well as Konnor slips shaking arms through the sleeves of his jacket. "It hurt." And he presses at his ears, as if to confirm they don't hurt now.

"Yeah, it does." She reaches forward slowly. He relaxes as she pulls him into a hug, settles against her with a sigh. "I usually focus on Alex, it helped a lot when everything got to much."

He lets out a soft pained sound, burying his face into her shoulder. "I can't hear her from here."

Kara sighs softly, fingers soothing through his wild hair. She can focus on Alex from here but poor Konnor isn't as powerful as she is. "No, but you have to find what works for you. A heart beat. Someone breathing, the click of a barometer, the running of an engine. It can be anything. I know Alex repeats the periodic table."

Winn looks up. "I uh. I go through coding." And he's blushing in embarrassment.

Konnor's eyes dart to Winn, full of curiosity. "Is that what you were telling me?"

"Yeah, I can uh. I can show you it?" Winn's rubbing at the back of his neck at actually being allowed to acknowledge his tick. His problems and anxiety.

Konnor just grunts, tilts his head. "The sirens stopped."

She rubs at his back and the last tense muscle relaxes as he lets go of her and steps back. "I put out the fire. Let's find Carter and go to Noonan's like planned." She leads them to Carter and Cat, Winn explaining with his hands coding to Konnor. Konnor is listening intently until they come to Carter and Cat. 

Cat looks at them, Carter still has the small cloth tight in his hand and he stands far away from the crowd. Cat nods to them, her fingers hovering near Carter but not touching. "I'm buying milkshakes." Kara says as greeting. 

Carter looks to his mother, eyes wide. "Go ahead." Her voice is soft and soothing and Carter's fingers twitch. "I'll come too." Cat looks up at CatCo with a pinch to her brow. "They need to clear the building first anyway." They make their way there, the noise dies away and most patrons are standing by CatCo, like a gaggle of ducklings after their mother they huddle to scenes of activity. Noonan's isn't packed, but it isn't quite close to empty.

Winn has taken the boys up to order as Cat falls into step with Kara who shoots off a quick text to Alex explaining what happened today. "How is Konnor?" That same worried pinch is still between her brow.

Kara sighs, soft an low. "It was his first one."

Cat hums low in her throat. "He looks calm now."

"Winn explained coding to him." Kara smiles soft and gentle. "He had his jacket too."

Cat snorts, eyeing the dark and old, yet well cared for, jacket on the boy's shoulders. "The leather atrocity."

Kara hums slightly, always able to read Cat, especially after three years. "Its one of Jeremiah's old ones, Alex gave it to him."

Cat purses her lips, thoughtful yet calculating. An easily recognizable look that grabs Kara's attention before she even speaks. "Are you alright Kara?"

Kara jolts. "Uh yeah-" She fiddles with her glasses, wincing. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be? I wasn't in any danger." She rubs at the back of her neck. "Wasn't even near the fire."

Cat huffs lowly, narrowing her eyes slightly. "The sirens Kara. I saw you."

"Oh." Kara winces, pushes up her glasses. "It doesn't shock me as much anymore." She shrugs. "I have a better handle on it."

"I didn't think anyone could over come sensory overloads." Cat demurs quietly.

Kara shrugs awkwardly. "I cope." Kara watches as Konnor shifts to block a man from crowding Carter. Carter's shoulders relax with the barrier between him and the small crowd in the cafe. Winn is still as awkward as ever, hands moving but both boys are listening intently to him. "It was worse when I was younger, but I've found things to keep it at bay."

Cat hums, arms crossed and fingers tapping against her elbow in a slow beat to an old lullaby. "Carter and I are still learning."

Kara ducks her head, crinkle forming between her eyes. "I didn't even think. I didn't know how to help him cope."

"Each person is different Kara." Cat stares at the antsy man at Konnor's back, he's huffing and growling at them and Carter's shoulders are beginning to tighten ever so slightly. Cat makes a move to go to her son, set a finger to Carter's elbow and send the man on his way with a harsh glare and a scathing remark. She's a foot away from him when Konnor turns and glares at the man, muscles tight and eyes narrowed. The man stammers to a silent glower and Konnor turns back around, pointing at the shake he wants with soft words that contradict his large frame and previous glare. Cat's face softens before she and Kara make their way to a table in the far back corner, waiting for the boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to throw this out so there's a slight time line understanding I guess: Konnor has been free of CADMUS for one month nearing on two months. Currently it would be about June or July. So he won't start school for another month or two.


	7. Supposed

Maggie watches the blonde blurt out question after question to the same nurse that had railroaded Maggie just a week or two ago. Still refusing to allow Maggie to see Isabel Justice despite the fact that she was being transferred to another hospital when her girlfriend had ordered it. Hadn't answered the questions she'd had about Mundy.

The blonde doesn't leave any stone unturned, questioning the policies that failed Isabel, the policies that kept her girlfriend from making medical decisions for her despite her father's permission and the forms that said she could. The same policies that kept Mundy from seeing her when she was on the edge of death's bed. The nurse finally stammers out that everything the blonde asked violated the privacy laws. The blonde scoffs but the nurse speedily walks away. 

Maggie waits until the nurse turns the corner before confronting the blonde woman. "How do you know about all that?"

Kara twitches slightly, face softening when she turns to face the detective. "I'm well um. I have friend?" And Kara can't seem to keep Supergirl confidence in front of the detective. A stammering mess as Kara Danvers like she was as Supergirl when the detective questioned the hero.

Maggie quirks an eyebrow up, hands tucked into the pocket of her jacket. "Friend?"

"Yeah, but I don't want them to get in trouble so." Kara shrugs, fiddling with her glasses.

Maggie nods, stepping closer and leading Kara to a deserted hallway with two fingers soft against her elbow. Kara allows her to lead her away, keeping her muscles soft and almost pliable. Better to follow the human than accidentally break her fingers. "Have you gotten anything out of the hospital staff?"

Kara tilts her head, listening quietly. They are alone, the two of them. "Well not much, but their policies have a bunch of loopholes." There's something of intrigue in the detective's eyes so Kara continues. "They can detain as well as refuse service." Her pliable muscles go stiff, but the detective isn't touching her. Can't feel them turn to steel in her anger.

The detective stiffens. "It says that?" Something dark weaves through her voice, like the receding of the ocean before a tsunami hits. Dangerous.

Kara shrugs, fingers twisting together in front of her. "You have to read between the lines." Kara demurs, hoping that the woman won't pry. Kara had listened into more than one meeting, dug until she couldn't dig anymore. Cat in all her experience had a way of sniffing things out, but Kara, she had super-hearing and perseverance. 

"You a reporter?"

Kara shrugs again. "Sort of."

That earns her something between a snort and a laugh from the detective. "Sort of?"

"Yeah." Kara holds out her hand. "Kara Danvers, CatCo."

Maggie takes her hand, it's warm and her grip is stronger than Maggie had thought it would be, but this girl hides strong shoulders under that cardigan, Maggie can see that much. "Detective Maggie Sawyer, NCPD." There's something familiar about the slope of her shoulders and the arch of her nose though. "Have we met before?"

Kara fiddles with glasses. "Um no, not that I know of but I have one of those faces?"

Kara shifts her feet and she's nervous. Nervous enough that Maggie takes note of it. There is something off about Kara but Maggie holds her tongue, knows that pushing won't end well for her somehow. "Let me know if you get anything out of them."

"Why?" Kara goes defensive just as Maggie thought she would, there's a steel resolve under the bumbling nerves. "The hospital, the law, they betrayed her." Blue eyes flash darkly under her glasses, familiar yet _not._  

Maggie take notes of it as she tilts her head to the side, deciding to push the girl. To find the line that she wanted to tread across. "Yeah but she's getting better." 

There's the hot flash in her eyes again. Dangerous. Familiar. "Because of intervention! The offices on the third floor have complete renovations. The Head of the hospital wears three thousand dollars suits and the only wing that's actually up to date is the north wing." Maggie watches the girl's face grow slightly pinker, jaw a tight as a wire. Either new to reporting or takes every story to heart. Idealistic it seems, Maggie notes. "And its not for public use. They have more drugs incoming than they use and they refuse services to those who don't have documentation."

Something about the way the girl speak, not quite rage but righteous and hardened edge, piques something in her gut, so Maggie presses. "Immigrants?" Kara doesn't say anything and Maggie steps closer, lowering her voice. "Or aliens?"

Kara lets out a scoff, lines twitching across her face. "We both know that the law doesn't care for either of them." 

Maggie lets out a soft barely audible. "I do."

"And why is that?" There's suspicion there that Maggie recognizes from her first days at M'gann's bar. 

Shoulder tightening Maggie leans in close, quiet. "You gonna print this kid?"

Kara lets out something that sounds like a snort yet isn't. There's something old in her eyes that Maggie had seen on too many faces, recognizes easily. She files that look away for later as Kara speaks. "My story is hospital policy, not the cops that roams it." 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Later that night when the morning is creeping on the city and the precinct is quiet, Maggie begins her search on the blonde who piqued her interest. There's not much on the reporter, a Facebook profile that's mostly inspirational quotes, paintings of the sunset, stars, sloping hills and trees. There's candids of another woman. Her back to the camera, sitting on a surfboard, long dark hair curling down her back and the sun glistening off the ocean, throwing the woman in the shadow. There's images of food on there as well, but the profile hasn't been touched in years and Maggie only manages to get through the security of it by hacking the profile, a trick she picked up from an ex. There's very few friends on there, mostly from a small town called Midvale, no relative or significant others listed. The page is scrubbed clean of any pictures that have faces in them. No links to the girl on the surfboard despite there being an abundance of pictures on there. It's odd so Maggie flags it in a notebook to look at later.

She searches the databases next, comes up with a college diploma, two degrees and a minor. Maggie's eyebrow raises, the girl finished in four years. Not too surprising, but she received almost all A's in the classes. Maggie travels back through the years, eyes burning from the shine of the computer. She finds school documentations that are real until she hits the beginning of high-school. Everything before that is perfectly normal. Almost too perfect. Maggie recognizes this. Looks at the birth certificate trying to find anything that hints at a lie. At the feeling in her gut that says somethings up with the documents.

The reporter was born in Alaska. Birth parent's Allison and Zachary Elliot. Killed in a fire when Kara was thirteen, there's barely anything on them. Barely even a job record on the parents, no birth certificates. Another flag. The documentations state that she moved to Midvale to live with family friends, but there's no adoption records. Nothing to tie the girl to the family, like they don't want someone digging. She's seen this before. In homes where the kids are used, not one of them adopted. There's too much risk in it, in names coming back to haunt you. That sets up a red flag and then she finds that there is a name change in the system, switching the girls last name from Elliot to Danvers barely even months after the 'fire'. Another flag in Maggie's mind. There's a deceptiveness to the entirety of her documents. The transcripts from elementary school a little too perfect. Passport a little too perfect.

Maggie's seen these documents before. Always just a bit _too_ perfect, records almost too good. She's seen the fake ones that are just as perfect, has helped some aliens get their own. Helped them fool the system so that they could get a job. So that their children could go to school. Has seen them with the aliens who can pass for human and has seen them more than once on the streets. Clutched in kids hands like they were a life line. Kids who barely spoke English and always looked like the world was out to get them.

There's something achingly familiar about Kara Danvers records. So she trudges on and finds a cousin in the system, Konnor Elliot. Son of Zachary's brother, James Elliot. Perished in the same fire as Kara's parents. There's more on the kid, though some of it is messy. Which follows through with the fact that the kid had been through the system. There's a birth certificate for him, burnt a little around the edges but there, clear as day in a picture. His files aren't as perfect as Kara's. It looks normal, while Kara's looks too squeaky clean. There's more there that Maggie wants to look into, but something tells her to shut down the computer and get back to her open cases.

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

_The Next Day_

Konnor's shoulders drop, and he refuses to look them in the eye after they drop the bomb on him as gently as they could. "You don't want me around anymore." There's no question to it, a simple statement, a soft sort of defeat to his voice.

Alex's face twists in shock and she opens her mouth but no sound comes out. Kara moves closer, head tilted to the side in confusion. "What?"

Konnor's hands shake and he still won't look them in the eye, like he's afraid of what he'll see. "That's why you're sending me away, you don't want me around. Because of what happened at CatCo."

"No Kon-El. We would never send you away. What happened at CatCo happened to me as a kid too, everything's fine." Kara's hands stretch out to touch his shoulder, to offer comfort. But she waits for his permission, won't swarm him with touches when he can't handle them. Knows all to well how it feels when everything is clambering over each other. Touch over sound over smell. Everything too much, so she lets her hand hover. "We love you Konnor, we want you around as long as you'll have us. We just want you to have a normal life. We want you to go to school, to be a teenager."

He looks up now, eyes unblinking. "But i'm not normal."

Kara's lips twitch and she shakes her head gently. "Not you're not."

His hands quit trembling as his shoulders relax. "I have to go to school?" There's something of defiance in there, of him finding his footing, testing boundaries.

Kara bites her lips, conflict written across her face, so Alex steps forward. "It'll be good for you, let you find yourself."

"Find myself? I know who I am, _what_ I am." His jaw clenches. "I am a _clone,_ there's nothing else to find out."

Alex breaks, face twisted in anger. "Stop!" Konnor stills, eyes wide and confused. Kara sets fingers to Alex's elbow, brows furrowed. "Stop saying that word." Alex's voice shakes more than he'd ever heard it and he's reminded of sitting under the stars with her. The way her voice had cracked from her chest.

Kara opens her mouth but Konnor presses like he does, eyes flashing with defiance and his own bottle of anger and pain. "What? Clone! It's what I am, why deny it?"

"Enough Konnor." Alex's voice loses that harden edge but there's still a tightness to it. "We've been over this, you are not what they did to you. You are Konnor Danvers. You are Kon-El. You are half-kryptonian and half human. You are whatever you want to be, I won't force you to go to school. I won't force your hand in anything as long as it keeps you safe, but I want you to experience something normal."

He gnaws on his bottom lip before blurting out. "Why?"

"Kara understands better than I do." Alex shakes her head like she couldn't comprehend what they went through, like she was as normal as they come. but Konnor knows better. None of them are normal. "But having something consistent and mundane somehow makes life more bearable, easier."

His pounding heart stills and he tilts his head to the side, confused. "Why would it do that?"

Kara steps forward now, hand sliding down Alex's forearm to tangle their fingers together. "I can't be Supergirl all the time Kon, I wouldn't want to. I like being Kara Danvers. I like doing stupid reports and correcting the sale team in the weekly meeting. I like being able to go out for pizza and movies."

His brows threaten to cover his eyes in his confusion. "I do that now."

Kara lets out a soft barely there laugh. "Yes, but there will be people your own age there."

"Nobody my age will be there." He scoffs out, arms crossing, still sore about being a clone. Understanding of Superman's dislike of him but still hating that he shares blood with both him and Lex Luthor.

"Konnor." Alex intones slowly. He tilts his chin up and she steps forward, gently tugging Kara with her when their hands remain tangled. She moves her fingers to his chin, hesitates in touching it for a few seconds before Konnor dips his chin down, letting her fingers grip it gently. "You are your own person, you are fifteen years old." He eyes her and her lips pull into a soft barely there smile. "Physically and mentally, you know it's true. You are not just what CADMUS made you, you make yourself."

"Okay." He moves his chin up until Alex's finger move from his chin to his cheek then his shoulder, squeezing gently. He relaxes into her touch, relaxes as Kara moves forward at his loosening muscles, reaching for a hug he gladly gives her.

Kara voice is muffled against his shoulder but he hears it all the same. "Carter goes to the same school. It's a good school and I think you'll like it."

Alex lets out a huff, grinning at the two of them. "It won't be until August, you have near two months to decide. We won't force you to do anything you don't want to."

* * *

* * *

* * *

Konnor's listening as AI Alura speaks of Krypton law and customs later that day. He listens intently as she mentions the codex. Something settles in his chest at the realization that Kara wasn't born either, that she was made. He opens his mouth to question Alura about the codex when something triggers at the edge of his hearing, a scattering in a familiar heartbeat a floor above him. He's still learning to reduce and increase his hearing, nowhere near as good as Kara's but something nags at him so he makes his way upstairs, finds Alex and a couple agents surrounding a live-feed from downtown. Kara's in her Supergirl suit, being thrown across the screen. Tumbling through the concrete, cracking it then shattering the windows of a building as she crashes through them. His hands fist and he speeds over to Alex's side, where she's gripping the table. Her entire being is stiffer than a board, as still as a wall except for the pounding in her heart. She hasn't realized he's behind her, that he's watching what she is. That he's watching Kara be thrown around like a rag doll.

Kara lets out a cry of pain after a particularly hard hit. Konnor stiffens and Alex spins, stalking down the hall. He follows after her, right on her heels. Unable to watch Kara bleed, he had thought her invincible. But she bled just the same. "It'll be okay Konnor." Alex soothes him, having heard him follow after her. He doesn't make a sound but follows after her just the same. The armory comes into view and the panic in his chest settles, Alex would protect Kara like Kara protected Alex. Like they both protected him. Everything would be alright.

"Agent Danvers." J'onn's voice is stern, soft and human instead of a rumbling martian. Alex stops in her tracks. They're alone in the hallway, the three of them and his voice carries. "You're suspended."

"She needs me." Alex is trembling, like her whole body has been given to much energy. "I'm not leaving her out there alone."

J'onn steps closer, laying a hand on her shoulder. "She is not alone, she has back up."

Alex tilts her chin high and Konnor watches them, shifting his feet, wondering how Kara is now. Now that they don't have eyes on her anymore. "I should be out there with her."

"You will be." Konnor's shoulders relax but Alex's face twists, like she's waiting for the ball to drop. J'onn drops it, shatters the hope against the floor. "When your suspension is up."

"When my." She scoffs out, barely controlled rage as she jerks her shoulder out of his hold. "I'm going now." She opens the door to the armory.

"If you leave the premises Agent Danvers you will be more than suspended." Alex stiffens and J'onn is stern, there's no give to his face. "Do not make this harder than necessary Alex."

Alex's chest feels tight and Konnor is stiff by her side, knees bent like he's ready to throw himself between her and J'onn. "J'onn, you know I can't let her get hurt. I have to be out there."

J'onn's chin tilts up and there so much understanding in his eyes, but he remains resolute. Un-moving. "I understand the need, but you made your choice when you beat a man senseless. You are suspended from field activity, that included helping Supergirl."

Alex throws her hands wide, eyes wild and chest heaving. They're lucky they are in the armory and not surrounded by the others. That Alex isn't screaming at their director in front of everyone. That she isn't showing her weakness for Supergirl in front of everyone. Konnor stays loose, knees bent. Ready to interfere should things go wrong. "You can't ask that of me!"

"I'm not asking." Konnor watches them, watches Alex stiffen and J'onn remain stead-fast. "I know this feels like the world is against you Alex. That i'm against you, but this is for your own good."

Alex's eyes are as wild as Kara's were when Kara left him at the Fortress. "Letting Kara get hurt is for my own good?!"

J'onn rubs at his forehead, lines marring his face. "I'm not saying that, but you need to learn consequences. Kara has back-up."

"If she dies or gets severely hurt its on _you_ J'onn, and I will _never_ forgive you." J'onn's jaw clicks but he nods, watching Alex head back to the main room to watch the video feeds of the fight going on. Konnor watches Alex walk away before he looks back at J'onn.

"Would you really let her die?" His voice cracks like he didn't want it to.

"No, but Supergirl is strong and she has back-up." J'onn lays a comforting hand across his shoulder, squeezing gently. "She'll be fine Konnor."

Konnor furrows his brow. "How do you know?"

He smiles at him, gentle and full of love. "Faith."

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Supergirl looks conflicted as two paramedics check the vitals of the alien before loading him onto a stretcher. The DEO agents step back when the NCPD show up, back away into the shadows. Supergirl stands in the middle of it all, blood on her lip and worry on her mind. He had kept screaming about her attacking his people, but Kara had never seen him before in her life. He had swung wildly at her, drooling and full of rage. Eyes dilated as he threw her through buildings.  

Supergirl spots a familiar detective ordering around a couple of others. She steps closer, watching the paramedics finish checking the alien over. "Do you have the means to hold him?"

"Yeah." Maggie eyes the alien, familiar. He'd been at the bar once, refusing to drink but hogging the dart board and a warm glass of tea. "His species hates the cold so we have a room for him."

Kara bites her lip, staring at the unconscious alien as they load him into a transport van, the paramedics leaving with a nod and some words to the other officers. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"

Maggie eyes the alien, lips pursed. "Looks like he got into something."

Supergirl nods, having figured that might be it. "Can I get a blood sample?"

Maggie squints up at her, the sun dancing through her hair. "Why?"

"So my people can analyse it as well." Kara wants to get it to Alex, wants to find out why this alien was yelling at her like she killed his people. Like she ruined his life. "They probably have better machines than you?"

Maggie narrows her eyes at this. "The FBI?"

"Yes?" Kara straightens her shoulders, tilting her chin up. "Yes."

Maggie snorts. "Have them get a subpeona."

"What? But I-" Supergirl's brows furrow in confusion and her hands flutter. "Why can't you-"

Maggie tilts her head, pressing on as the hero splutters. "What?"

"Do you even have a doctor to treat him?" The words are forceful and Maggie wants to laugh at the way the Superhero can't choose one emotion. The way she's trying to be intimidating, like she's copying someone she'd seen do it before. 

Maggie leans back against the squad car, arms crossing as her men take sample from all around them. "Do you?"

"Well, my-" And Supergirl is a spluttering mess again, like she can't figure out why Maggie's not folding under her stern words. Why Maggie's not falling on her feet to please her. Maggie remembered the Superhero with red veins around her eyes, but mostly she remembers the kicked puppy look the next few weeks. The way her shoulders drooped and the way her voice brought Maggie from her stupor under The Wave. All she sees now is a bumbling girl that's still coming into herself as a hero. Finding footing she had lost. "Yes!"

Maggie gets off the car, watching her people finish snapping pictures and loading up. She opens the door to her squad car, hands loose around the frame. "Then bring your doctor to the station."

"I don't. She-I can't. Urgh." Supergirl's eyes narrow and Maggie looks to happy to be making the girl of steel grumble, eyes too bright.

Maggie just keeps her smirk, passing a card to the superhero before getting into the driver side of her car. "Here's my number, call me when you're on your way with your doctor." 

"Thanks." It's more a grumble than anything and Maggie can't help but find amusement in it. A woman who can bend steel with her bare hands pouts like a child who was denied sweets.

* * *

* * *

After Alex forces her under the sunlamp for thirty minutes and Vasquez promises to keep an eye on Konnor, Kara flies them to the police station. Watching as Alex scowls at her hair in her reflection. She manages to get it under control, quicker than when they had as kids, due to her short hair. Kara tucks another stray strand behind Alex's ear. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Alex lets out a sigh through her nose. "Last time I was here it was for the Rozz Guard." Kara stiffens, remembering the way Alex had hit the ground. The way the bullet leaving the gun rang in her ears. The way Alex had slumped to the ground. Her ears zero in on Alex's heart beat, soothing and there. "Hopefully this detective will take better to me than he did."

"He was trying to hide from you, she doesn't have anything to hide." Kara furrows her brows. "I don't think."

Alex arches an eyebrow, wanting to bump shoulders with Kara but holding back. They were in public. They were Agent Danvers and Supergirl, not Alex and Kara. "You don't think?"

"I don't know, she makes me nervous." Alex raises and eyebrow and Kara shrugs helplessly as they walk through the doors. Once police eyes settle on them Kara straightens, her shoulders pulled back. She looks every bit of superhero she is. "She asks _alot_ of questions."

Alex snorts. "That's kinda her job Supergirl." Her face slips into her own stern mask as a short woman in a leather jacket that covers tan skin and dark hair that curls over her shoulders, walks towards them. Kara shifts her feet and Alex realizes that this is the detective Kara talked about. Alex holds out her badge for the detective to look at. "FBI." Her suit jacket is tight on her shoulders and her hair still slightly windblown. 

Maggie stares at the badge, there's something familiar about the woman but Maggie shoves it to the side. Maggie turns to look at the blonde standing beside the FBI Agent, grinning at the hero. "Thought you were bringing a doctor Supergirl?" 

Alex huffs, rolling her eyes and pushing past Maggie. "I am a doctor. Where's he at?"

Maggie tilts her head to the side, eyeing the Agent. "Down the hall in the cooler room."

"Cooler room?"

"His species thrives on warmth, it's why he's in National City. No snow in California." Maggie leads the past other cells. Past the other inmates that are waiting for transfer. They're hooting at Alex, Supergirl and Maggie, all of them human. "He's in our side of the holdings."

Alex lengthens her stride to catch up to the detective. "Our side?"

Maggie nods, unlocking another door, waving at one of the guards. "Science division, specially made to deal with aliens that break the law. How about you, how are your holding cells?"

Alex purses her lips, eyeing the detective. "Fine. You have a nutrient plan for him?"

"Yeah. Once we finish the blood samples it'll finish our medical info on him." Maggie unlocks a set of bars then a door before leading them to a silver door. "It's a little chilly in here." She knocks on the door before unlocking it. "We're coming in."

Kara speaks up from behind them, face twisted in shock. "He's awake?" She had hit him pretty hard, had worried about it after he'd hit the ground. 

Maggie shakes her head, swinging the door open to show them the alien still tucked into the bed. His wrists are bound but he's hooked up to some machines that monitor his vitals. "Not yet, but always give fair warning, most don't react well if you barge in without warning."

Alex examines him, taking pulse as well as body temp and then pupil dilation. She leans back on her heels. "He's coming down from a high, his bodies flushing it out. I'd raise the temp a little bit to allow for quicker healing, his species heals faster than humans depending on the temperature." Alex gently sets the vial of purple blood into her case, notes into another compartment. "My bet is he got into something like you told Supergirl. Whether he knew it was a drug or not will be up for debate. If he pees I want the sample."

Maggie nods her head, shutting the door behind them, Supergirl at the FBI Agent's side. "I know the drill." Alex tilts her head to the side and Maggie's lips twist into a smirk. "I did have a biology minor while I took forensics through the academy training."

"Oh." Alex turns around to walk to the main lobby and they're in the hallway. The sun is setting behind the window and it creates shadows through the window, hiding the angle of her face and shadowing her shoulders.

Maggie's heart skips and she tilts her head as something nags at the back of her mind. "What'd you say your name was?"

The woman tilts her head as she turns around, narrows her eyes and the suns catching in her auburn hair, short instead of long. But Maggie recognizes it all the same. "Special Agent Alex Danvers, FBI."

Maggie keeps her face calm, doesn't move but her heart skips. Danvers, same name as the reporter. Most likely connected to the reporter that has the possibly fake ID. Maybe. Her silhouette looks sort of like the girl on the surf board, same color to the hair, same thin set to her hips and slim waist, though she's more muscular than in the picture. "Detective Maggie Sawyer." Maggie holds out her hand, lips twitching into a smile.

Supergirl's eyes are narrowed in confusion and suspicion. Alex tilts her head to the side, arching an eyebrow before she takes Maggie's hand, nimble fingers and callouses. "Nice to meet you, we'll call you if we find anything out."

Maggie smirks, stepping closer to the agent. "And if I figure it out before you do?" Supergirl looks indignant but the Agent laughs. No she snorts, loud and amused.

Alex shakes her head, stepping back and towards Supergirl. "Then you call us. Goodbye Detective."

Maggie's grin widens, this was gonna be fun. "Agent."

Supergirl has narrowed eyes and stiff shoulders, blue eyes dark and confused as the two of them leave the station. Maggie kinda wants to laugh just a little. Maybe cry just a bit as well. Flirting never had the threat of laser eyes, but Supergirl looked ready to fry her. 

* * *

* * *

 

Maggie goes to Facebook again, the easiest to crack first and foremost in the technological society of today. She finds Alex's page after some digging and a few hacking tricks picked up from her ex. It's clean like Kara's, eerily so. No faces in the picture, there's beakers and scientific links but its abandoned, has been for three years. There no pictures of Kara and none of Alex. If it could be deleted Maggie's pretty sure Alex would've. She leans back in her seat, flips through her coded notes. Konnor's last name was changed in the system. Danvers now.

The next thing to do is call around Midvale, figure out what she can. Before she does that she types in 'Midvale' and 'Danvers' into her search engine, should have done it when she looked up Kara, but she had too many open cases. Now though Alex Danvers and Kara Danvers are both tied into aliens, Alex through the FBI and Kara looking into the hospital case. Maggie finds a death certificate for one Jeremiah Lee Danvers. Ten years ago, plane crash, no body found. Maggie winces in sympathy. Finds that Jeremiah Danvers is Dr. Danvers, worked with astronomy and anatomy. An odd combination that she flags. She finds a Marriage license for Jeremiah Lee Danvers to Elizabeth Ann Kennedy. Birth certificate for Alexandra Danvers. There's nothing much more in there. Dr. Eliza Danvers is renowned for her Genetic-engineering work, which explains why Alex is a doctor but not why she went to FBI. Finally she dredges up an old picture from a school paper. Alex Danvers by a surfboard, long hair slicked back, face split with a grin. There's a younger Kara beside her, half her face hidden by her hair but she's blushing and oh, Maggie knows that look. Had it a few times herself.

She digs deeper to find that Kara was placed with the Danvers after her families death, no relation, family friends like mentioned in Kara's file. There's no adoption papers, nothing but a name change and that weird in and of itself but adoption leads to investigations.

So Kara Danvers the reporter grew up with Alex Danvers the doctor and supposed FBI agent. Now the question is, where the hell is Kara from and are the Danvers records hidden because of Alex's job or is it tied to Kara? Konnor leaves another thing to be desired, it took near twelve years for the boy to be placed with Kara. There's records of home visits and doctor visits on the boy. Noting of his new life, its too good. Everything about them sets Maggie on edge. Everything about this screams at her instincts that there's more hidden there. She's always trusted her instincts, has since before the police academy.

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

_The Next Day_

Alex, Kara and Konnor are walking down the street. Konnor is pointing at various plants and birds, spouting out the scientific names when they pass them, testing his knowledge. Kara corrects him on a few of them, Alex grinning at their side. The sun hot on their backs. Kara spots Lena across the sidewalk, practically bouncing to the CEO's side and pulling her, _gently,_ over to the other two. Alex twitches her fingers in a wave and Lena smiles softly, nervously. "A very small world it seems." There's a nervous flutter to Lena's voice and heart.

Alex can't help but smile. "Small indeed." She holds out her hand. "Alex Danvers."

Lena's eyes widen briefly but she smiles all the same, shaking Alex's hand. Konnor still eyes her curiously. "Lena Luthor, but you already knew that."

Konnor narrows his eyes in confusion and Alex grins, tilting her chin towards Lena, hands tucking into her leather jacket. "Lena shot a man that was threatening to kill me." Konnor tilts his head to the side, eyeing Lena like she was an enigma.

Lena blushes, rubbing at her own thumb and forefinger before shaking her head. Kara's beaming at all of them like its the best day since pancakes were given a Pancake Day. "Only after you had fought him to protect me."

Alex leans back, eyes narrowing. "A stalemate then."

Lena's lips twitch. "I don't come to stalemates."

Alex laughs, shakes her head and Kara grins at the both of them, bouncing on her toes, excited and happy. "We're heading to get dinner, wanna come with?"

Lena tenses before relaxing, shaking her head as she looks at them in something like amazement. "I have dinner with a potential funder, but another time Kara."

"Oh definitely." Kara voice is full of joy and truth, nothing malicious like others would have. Lena's heart aches in a good way. Kara was a friend Lena was still growing used to having. One who asked about her day and worried about her. One that was as real as they came. 

Alex's lips twitch. "When we do you can help me get some green into Kara." There's something else there but Lena shakes her head in amusement, nodding in affirmation. Konnor still eyes her curiously as she makes her way back to LuthorCorp. That familiar slope to his brow and nose nagging at her.

"Come on." Alex touches Konnor's elbow to get his attention. "It's only four. Early enough for dinner and a run through the museum."

Konnor's eyes widen in excitement and they hastily make their way to the sandwich place down the block. Kara tangles her hand with Alex's as they walk, Konnor bumping into Kara's shoulder, playfully, every few seconds. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Staring at the clock Lena rubs at her face, she had sent everyone home at five. A near two minutes ago, but Lillian Luthor was nothing if not punctual. Hearing the familiar click of heels on the floor Lena straightens in her seat. "Mother."

Lillian steps through the doorway, eyes the pile of paperwork on Lena's desk. "Lena, have you changed your mind?"

"I flushed out more of Lex's people this morning, five of them that were leaking information." Lena motions to termination papers, lips pursed. "You wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

Lillian's face pales. "Lena." There's a warning there, under it a flutter of fear that goes with her pale face.

Lena stands quickly, letting out a frustrated breath through her nose. "I'm tired of the cat and mouse game mother, tell me the truth."

"I have been!" Lillian's hands shake before she controls them, before her mask slips back on. Her eyes betray her though, full of so many emotions. "You are going to get yourself killed. You won't even see it coming because you're firing people left and right. You're letting them know you know!" Lillian rubs at her forehead, letting her voice lose the hardened edge of fear. "I thought you were smarter than this."

Lean steps closer, unable to stay away. There's something more in her mother's gaze. "What information do you have on them mother, tell me." Lena steps ever so closer, searching her mother's face for something. She looks as tired as she had when Lena had contracted mono and was hospitalized. " _Help_ me."

Lillian lets out a sigh, defeated and so very tired. "I can't."

"You won't." Lena's lips twitch and she shakes her head, her face is calm but inside her heart is breaking. "I didn't think you would."

_"Lena."_ She says it like she had when Lena had followed Lex to a party, when she had to pick them both up from the cop car. Like she's scared and disappointed all in one.

"I've heard all I need to mother." Lena moves around to her desk, slipping paperwork into her briefcase. "I know where you stand."

Lillian shakes her head, something desperate in them. "Please Lena, I can't lose another child. I _can't."_ The near desperate plea makes Lena falter, but she steels herself.

She remembers the way Lex's face had twisted in betrayal when she last saw him face to face. The way Lillian had vanished after that, disappeared like Lena wasn't as lost and scared as she was. "You've made your choices and I've made mine." 

* * *

* * *

* * *

Winn comes barreling into their apartment later that night, pizza boxes in hand and a backpack full of supplies. There's a bag of donuts held between his teeth and he still manages to grin at them. "Eh guis." His words are muffled and the three of them stare at him before Konnor breaks, rushing over to him and grabbing at the donuts despite having already had dinner earlier. Winn grins at him and Kara is there with a flutter of air, grabbing the pizza eagerly. Winn takes in the looks of confusion on both Kara and Alex's face. "You guys forgot." His face flushes and he rubs the back of his neck. "I should have texted first."

"Wha' we forget." Kara mumbles around a slice of pizza.

"Uh, Movie Marathon, Konnor still hasn't seen the good ones." Winn jiggles his bag and there's the clatter of too many movie cases within it.

Kara furrows her brow. "I thought that was tomorrow."

Konnor shakes his head, pointing at the calendar, in his messy scrawl is _MoVIe NIgHT_ below today's date. "No, it's tonight. Lucy's suppose to come too." He looks behind Winn, brow furrowed as he searches for the shorter woman. Like she'll step out from behind his taller frame.

Winn nods hastily explaining. "She was, but something came up, she said to do a rain-check." Winn grabs a piece of pizza while he can as Konnor stuffs another donut into his mouth. Alex lets out a soft warning sound and Konnor grunts, moving to the fridge and grabbing out a cup of green liquid. He unscrews the lid and downs it in quick gulps, setting the empty cup in the sink before he bears down on the pizza with the same enthusiasm as Kara.

Winn stares at the cup, with green residue in it, in horror. "You still have him on veggie shakes?"

Alex lets out a mix between a scoff and a snort. "He needs the nutrients, easiest way to get him the amount he needs."

Winn shifts his feet, eyeing the cup disdainfully. "I don't have to drink it, right?"

Alex arches an eyebrow. "Do you eat your greens Winn?" There's something snarky there, a twinkle in her eyes. Winn shakes his head, mouth opening and closing before motioning to the living-room with a panicked squawk. He makes his exit quickly.

Kara laughs around a bite of pizza and comes to stand near Alex. "You know you scare him."

"He should be, I could kill him with three fingers." Alex grumbles out, taking the offered bite of pizza, meat-lovers, from Kara, still full from their early dinner.

Kara let out a soft amused sound before dragging Alex to her favorite of the two couches to sprawl out together. Winn is spread out on the floor, forgoing the other chair, love-seat and couch. Konnor is perched in his favorite chair, legs slung over the arm, staring down at Winn as he sets an alarming amount of movies across the hardwood floor. Winn is speaking a million miles a minute as he explains different genres to Konnor.

* * *

* * *

 

Lucy finds her father in the upscale restaurant he had chosen, he's in his uniform and Lucy's happy for once that she came straight from the DEO instead of stopping by her apartment. Her father stands when she enters, letting the waiter pull out her chair. He sits down and orders quickly for the both of them, sending the waiter away with a flick of his wrists. He sips at what is most likely scotch as he purses his lips. "How's work?"

Lucy smiles in thanks as the waiter sets down her drink before making himself scarce. She sips at the alcohol, more bitter than what she usually had, but her dad had his preferences for booze. "Same as always, busy."

He lets out a low hum, lazily eyeing their surrounding. "I thought that might be the case, having to clean up after Supergirl." He shakes his head in disappointment and anger. "She caused a lot of damage to the city with her latest fight."

Lucy clenches her jaw but holds back the sharp words, controls her anger like her father never could. "Insurance will pay for the damage."

"They have insurance on alien attacks? On Supergirl?" He scoffs, taking another mouthful of his scotch. "She isn't a member of the US, shouldn't even be fighting here."

Lucy lets out a sound that could be a scoff or a laugh as she shakes her head in disbelief. "Really dad?"

He narrows his eyes, leaning forward slightly. "What seems to be the problem?"

"She's not a citizen of the US so she shouldn't be fighting here?" She lets out a disbelieving laugh, setting her glass back on the table, barely a drink out of it. "We both fought across the seas dad, in lands we didn't have citizenship in."

"That was different." He growls out, hand tightening on his glass.

Lucy stiffens but holds her tongue, she rubs at her brow. At the headache forming there. "Why are you here dad?"

"You're starting to sound like Lois." He grumbles out. "I can't visit my daughter?"

A soft sigh escapes Lucy's lips and she wishes to have gone to Movie Night instead of sitting her with her father. "Last time you left you told me to either come back to the army or forget about coming home."

He clenches his jaw. "You could do good in the army Lucy, had been before this DEO _business."_

She scoffs, reaching out and downing her own glass of scotch, letting it burn down her throat and to her stomach. "You're the one who pushed me into the DEO."

His glass doesn't slam on the table, but it is _forcefully_ placed there, his face reddening. "To turn it over to the Army, not to stay there!"

Something in her heart aches and she pushes her glass to the center of the table, leaning back in her chair. "So I was a pawn?"

His face twists into a snarl, like it usually had when Lois had called, back when Lucy was still following her father around. Back when Lois actually still called. "Quit twisting my words!"

"What is the real reason you came here dad?" Lucy forces her voice to be calm, forces it not to shake. "I know you didn't come to see me."

He clenches his jaw but leans back. "The DEO needs to be investigated."

There's no victorious feeling to being right, just a profound disappointment that settles in her gut. Burning like the alcohol had. "Why?"

"You know why." He scoffs out, eyes narrowed like he's losing Lucy. Like he doesn't recognize her anymore.

"No, I don't." She bites out, sharper than it had ever been directed at him. He stiffens under the tone. "Enlighten me, please."

His nostrils flare and the veins in his neck pulse. "There is an alien in charge of the organization, we want to make sure it is running smoothly."

Lucy purses her lips. "J'onn isn't in charge of the DEO." Her father furrows his brow in confusion. "I am."

Eyes widening he leans forward, there's something swirling in his eyes, not the pride but a deep seated rage. "When did this happen?"

"Two months ago."

"Where-" His face reddens like it had when Lois had brought Clark Kent home for Thanksgiving that one year, after too many years of radio silence. "Where's the martian?!"

Lucy tilts her chin up at her father, finding the courage to finally do what she should have done ages ago. "That is a need to know basis. You are not authorized to know where I placed my assets, especially if they are on a mission."

"What did you do?" There's something dark in his voice, tinged in disappointment.

Lucy leans back in her seat as poised under her father's glare as she had been under the eyes of those that had threatened her all those years ago. "The DEO will be open for you to view it anytime you want General Lane, but you must be accompanied at all moments."

His face keeps reddening, for a moment Lucy worries for his heart. "Lucy, where is the martian?"

She ignores him, pressing one like he hadn't spoken. "You will need to sign nondisclosure agreements. You will not speak to your subordinates about the DEO. You will not speak of DEO transit or weapons. You will be allowed to speak only to those above you about the DEO."

His hand slams on the table, gaining the attention of the waiter, he eyes Lucy but at her shake of head he stays back. Her father doesn't even notice the exchange, to full of rage. "Lucy, what are you _doing?"_

"If you have contact with CADMUS we will be allowed to detain you, if you do not comply by the rulings of the NDA you will be court-martialed." Her hands threaten to shake but she keeps them in her lap, steady. "Would you still like to visit?"

"You can't do this Lucy." His face is reddened with betrayal, voice thick with it. 

"Which of us is the lawyer?" She snarks out, sharper than she'd ever spoken to her father. She reigns in the rage, barely. "Will you abide by these rules as I have spoken and as you will sign, or does the army need to send in another general?" 

He clenches his jaw as he stands, chair screeching back against the floor. "I'll be on site in three hours."

He spins around to leave but Lucy speaks sharply. "You will not be permitted to enter nor your men until you and your men sign the correct paperwork." Her father stiffens and Lucy tips her chin high. "As stated by the President of the United States and Department of Security." She keeps her cool, face impassive as her father storms out of the restaurant.

There's something deep in the pit of her stomach that's festering. She didn't expect it to feel this bad. Didn't expect the look of betrayal on her father's face to cut so deep. It had always been him and Lucy when her mother died and Lois left. She pays the bill quickly, heading out of the restaurant to make her way to the DEO. It may be nearing seven at night but her father always was one to inconvenience. Wanting to throw his weight around to prove he had the authority. She used to watch him do it and feel pride, now, now all she feels is disappointment and pain. She makes sure Vasquez set up the transport vans and circuits with a quick text. All the kryptonite was under lock and key, only available to J'onn and Lucy. Secreted away until her father leaves.

With a soft sound of annoyance and sadness she climbs into the SUV she had parked. J'onn looks up at her. He's not Hank Henshaw, nor J'onn J'onzz, but a different face. One Lucy had never seen before, dark hair and skin a little darker than her own. He has strong brow and nose, though slightly crooked. "You handled that well." His large hands are loose around the steering-wheel.

Lucy leans back against the seat, closing her eyes. "Could've gone better."

"Yes." And it's odd hearing J'onn's words through the voice of another but it's just as reassuring. "But you dealt the cards you were given."

She opens her eyes to look at him, turning her face to the side to meet his gaze. "You heard everything?"

"Yes." There's a sadness there. 

"Then lets get out of here." She motions her hand to the road. "I need to get to the DEO to get the paperwork together."

A warm hand brushes her elbow. "You did good Lucy." He is as soft spoken as normal but there's a strong edge to it.

Lucy lets out a snort. "I'm not in charge of the DEO."

"Yes, you are."

"J'onn." Her voice trembles and finally her hands shake.

"There are different branches to the DEO." He's turned to look at her fully, full of the pride and understanding she had been seeking in her father's eyes. "You are the Director of one of the larger branches. The tower was specifically built to handle CADMUS where the desert cannot."

Lucy lets out a soft shocked sound. "Did you know?" 

"That control would be relinquished to you?" Lucy nods and J'onn eyes crinkle around the edges a bit, almost a smile. Familiar even on this unknown face "Yeah, I did. I believe in you." Lucy swallows down the emotion brimming in her throat but it still brushes J'onn's mind, lets him know the gratitude and relief there.

* * *

* * *

* * *

Lillian stands in the room, her face impassive as she watches the doctor cut open one of their experiments. "He's dying." She can see it in the slow rise of his lungs, the rasp of it. 

The doctor in front of her just grunts. "He volunteered. He knew the risks." The doctor is paler than a ghost with hair as red as the sun, but his eyes are what are haunting, grey and dull. Like the life had been sucked out of them. "Have you spoken to Lex?"

Lillian doesn't move to sit down, instead opting to watch the doctor do his work. Unaided. "He sends his regards, said to continue his work."

The doctor nods and there's a brightness to his eyes that Lex only seemed to bring out. "Has he received news from the others yet?"

Lillian's lips purse and she narrows her eyes. "You know as well as I do that he is stuck in solitary for the stunt he pulled last week."

The doctor grunts, losing that brightness. "Yes, I suppose he still is." There's a squelching sound as he pulls out another organ, weighing it before setting it in a container, moving to grab the replacement organ. He lets out a soft sound of disappointment a second later. "Another failed test." He grunts, staring at the screen as it flat-lines. "The director won't be happy."

There's something in the callous way he speaks about a former employee dying by his hands that sets her on edge. She pushes like she doesn't with Lena. Sharp and angry. "How much of my money was spent on this little  _experiment?"_

"Half yours, half Lex's." He sneers, glaring at her. "Remember your place Lillian."

"I know my place." She narrows her eyes stalking closer, no longer relaxed. "The question is, do you know yours? Are you wasting my time and money on something you can't give me? I am not Lex, I do not take failures well." Her fingers tighten around a scalpel, twisting it in her hands, letting him see it glint in the light. "How many times does this one make Doctor."

He licks his lips nervously. "Twenty-five."

Lillian purses her lips. "And with these twenty-five failures, how many have you completed?" She steps closer, taking in the way he nervously looks around. "How many _haven't_ failed?"

He backs away slowly, loosing his confidence. "One."

She glares at him. "Lex kept you around because you graduated college with him, because you were there with him through the beginning of everything."

"I-I succeeded in cloning Superman!" His face is flushing finally, bringing pink to his pale face. "I did that!"

"I don't see a Superman clone here, my bet is that he died." she steps every so closer. "That you fabricated the escape, tried to save your tail when you failed yet _again."_

"Lies!" He spits out, there's rage there. The same rage he had coaxed Lex into. The rage in Lex that he had feed into. "You can't do this to me."

She keeps her face impassive, her hands steady as she stares him down with the few inches she has over him. "You sent Jack to burn your reports, all your failures, before our cleanup team got there."  Her lips purse in annoyance. "Now he's in DEO custody and they know about Jeremiah Danvers."

He shakes his head frantically, eyes darting to the scalpel and back to her face. "I didn't know they would be there."

She hums low in her throat, pushing the revulsion down. Pushing any doubts she has down as she advances on him. As she forces him into a corner with her words. "You didn't have the authority to do that, and you will be punished for that and your failures."

"You're bluffing." There's a confidence to him now, chin tilted high. "Lex won't let you!"

She lets a malicious smirk crawl across her face. "Who do you think ordered it?"

The doctor loses his bravado. "What?"

"Congratulations Doctor, you'll be part of one more experiment. Hopefully this one isn't a failure." She purses her lips and her eyes are cold, like a curtains been dropped over them. Her fingers twitch and the scalpel embeds itself in his hand. The hand that was stretching for the gun under the cabinet. He screams, thrashes against it before yanking it out. Hand cradled to his chest, blood staining his shirt he glares at her. Trembling in betrayal and rage. Two soldiers descend in the room, grabbing him by his arms and dragging him to one of the rooms. She keeps the impassive look on her face as the two soldiers turn to look at her. "Pump him full of the nanites. We have a bombing to plan, the President needs a little warning."

* * *

She goes home to an empty apartment when all is said and done. There's a heaviness to her now, nausea swirling in her veins. A darkness creeping around the corners of her vision but she refuses to turn a light on. There's no laughter like there was when the kids were young and they lived in Metropolis. National City is too quiet. It's not the home she raised her kids in, not the place she wants to be. With a sigh she sits down at the kitchen table. There's a glass of whiskey in her hand, full to the brim with a few ice-cubes clinking around in it and a chess board in front of her. With a flick of her fingers she takes out a white bishop. Next to the board are scatterings of white pieces as well as a couple of black, mostly pawns, pieces. With a sigh she downs the rest of the glass, leaving the chess board sitting there, as unfinished as her plans. The game not won yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot is very very slowly creeping along and I apologize for that, i'm trying to fit everything in without seeming overwhelming. Thank you all for keeping with this story.:)


	8. Ain't Nothin' to It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to apologize for how long it took me to update this story, I also want to thank everyone for sticking with this story and continuing to stick with it. This chapter wouldn't have been finished without you guys. Thanks again and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Also Maggie took up more of this chapter than I had originally thought or planned, so hopefully you guys enjoy that as well.

Maggie holds the phone to her ear, listening to the steady ring of it as she waits for the other person to answer the phone. "Hit me." The voice on the other side is rough with sleep.

Maggie grins. “Stateside or Nationwide?”

There’s a startle laugh over the phone that turns into a happy hum. "Hey there Little Bug."

"Hey Dakota." Maggie leans against the counter, biting her bottom lip. It always made her feel weird when she asked favors. "I need something.”

The person on the other end is quiet for a second before speaking gently. “Anything but murder for you, what's up?”

Maggie worries her bottom lips before sighing, her gut was never wrong, and the stuff she was looking into affected her friends. The people she swore to protect. “Hack into the FBI servers, I need you to look up a name for me.”

“Your favor is to hack into a _government_ _server_?” Dakota's voice is full of disbelief but also something that borders on glee.

Maggie rolls her eyes, lips twitching. “Yeah, think you can do it?”

“Course I can, but that doesn’t even." Dakota lets out a sigh over the phone, confusion and worry taking up the glee that was once there. "Why would you need to?”

Maggie fiddles with the cup of water in front of her before wiping the condensation off the counter top. “I have a hunch I need you to figure out and my hacking skills don’t go much past getting into semi-public places.”

Dakota lets out a low sigh. “You owe me for this Bug.” There's a wryness to their voice now.

Maggie grins. “Yeah I know.”

“Name?”

Maggie recalls the woman; the auburn hair and the way she walked like she could tear the world apart alone. “Alexandra Danvers, goes by Alex. Born in Midvale, California.”

“Please tell me this isn’t a crush.” Dakota lets out a sound somewhere between amusement and disbelief. 

“No." Maggie grumbles, kicking her foot up against the cabinet behind her. "I could be onto something, my gut is screaming me.”

“Whatever you sa- Holy _shit_.” Dakota's voice hitches in a high octave Maggie's never heard it hit before and there’s the audible sound of the legs of a chair slamming back into hardwood over the phone.

“Kota?" Maggie reaches for her gun on instinct, but she can't do anything. Dakota is on the other side of the world. "What is it?”

“Shit-shit- _SHIT_!”

Maggie paces the room, muscle tight. “Kota?!”

“Hold on.” There’s the furious smash of fingers on keyboards over the phone and Kota’s heavy breathing and harsh curses before finally Kota sighs. “You fucking owe me big Bug.” Their voice is worn, a hint of terror fading from it.

“What _happened_?” Maggie’s muscles are tight, and guilt and worry seep into her bones.

“Your girl's not FBI, but she's deep in the government." There's the sound of thumps and closing drawers over the phone. "I've hacked the FBI before, hell I've hacked the fucking  _Pentagon,_  never have I ever been chased like that." Kota's voice grows distant and more thumps, the sound of something zipping. "They almost caught me, Bug. I gotta run, switching countries. Multiple times.”

“Shit, I didn’t mean." Maggie presses a hand to her forehead. "I didn’t think.”

“No, it’s cool.” Dakota laughs in disbelief over the phone. “Your girl's just in deeper than you thought.”

Maggie purses her lips. “How deep?”

“On the surface she's a researcher, but she's deep Bug.” Dakota sighs heavily, feet thumping down some stair before there is the slam of a car door. “Very deep. Surprised you even found her on social media deep. I gotta go.”

Maggie presses her face into her hand. “Check in with me, let me know you're good.”

“Will do.”

“Thanks Kota.”

"You owe me one love." Kota murmurs over the phone before hanging up.

Maggie slumps onto her couch, rubbing at her forehead. "Shit." She looks up at the pictures that are tacked to the whiteboard in her living room. There's the picture of possible young Alex, surfboard under her a yellow string connect the image to the grainy picture of the Agent from the Police station, smirk on her face. A green string connects her to a picture of Kara Danvers. Under their pictures is Maggie's sloppy handwriting and what she's discover so far. "Shit." With a huff she gets up, crosses out the ‘ _FBI’_ she has written under Alex's picture and writes ‘ _Govt.Black op?’_

Maggie steps back to survey her work, to try and spot connections she hadn’t before. Supergirl's picture connect to Alex’s with a green string as well, and a yellow string connecting the hero to a picture of Mundy. There's a scattering of pictures of missing or dead aliens on the board as well, with three large question marks in the middle. Descriptions reside under each large box, describing the varying ways the aliens disappear. Lex Luthor is on the far left corner of the board, his attack on Metropolis underlined under his anti-alien views. She continues staring at the board when the phone rings.

With a deep sigh she answers without looking at the caller id. "Sawyer."

There’s a startled chuckle over the phone, before a deep voice questions. "Is that how you answer the phone for your favorite person in all the world?"

Maggie lets out a huff, turning away from the board. "Really?"

There's laughter on the other end, there's something odd about it though, not quite happy but not quite sad. Music or something in the background beats heaving in her ear. "Second favorite then Mags."

Maggie lets out a tired chuckle, exhausted from the last twenty minutes piled onto an already exhausting day. "What's up James?"

"Your darling daughter decided wear my ties, suffice to say they are all knotted beyond saving."

Maggie's heart settles and she walks past the board, moving to flop onto the couch. "So, she's only mine when she does something disastrous?"

"Course, all her best qualities are mine." James intones teasingly. Maggie let out a snort and James sighs over the phone.

Maggie furrows her brow. "James?"

"How's National City?" There's something funny in his voice, years of knowing him, knowing his voice and his every tick lets her know somethings up.

"Considering I've been here seven months pretty good." She wearily pushes him. "Why?"

"Just- What if.” He lets out a heavy, weary sigh before speaking again. Low and weak. “I can't do this." There's something heavy in his voice.

Maggie sits up suddenly, terror twisting in her stomach. She's reminded of that night years and years ago when she found him with a gun in his hand and alcohol on his breath. "Can’t do what James?"

"This distance." She can hear the thud of his head over the phone, knows he's leaning his forehead against something, probably the fridge, like he does when he's stressed.

Something settles, the aching terror leaving, but she makes a mental note to have some of their friends check on him more often. "We discussed this months ago James." Guilt at leaving them behind eats at her, they had decided it was best. That National City offered the best option for her. Still she aches inside.

"This distance isn't good for Jamie." His voice crack and there's the hum of a radio, some odd classical music playing now. There's something that sounds like the hum of traffic. He must have left the TV on like he has the habit of doing. "She needs more than face-time and nightly phone calls Mar."

Something heavy sits in her chest. "I know James." Her voice cracks. "I know, but I couldn't stay in Gotham. Not after everything."

He lets out a heavy sigh, she can hear it catch in his throat. "And you couldn't live with us because there's nothing here for you."

"James, you and Jamie were there." She hates that she left them to run away from Gotham. Hates that she didn't want to move to the town James lives in. "That's not nothing."

"I know Mar." His voice is gentle, like when she'd first found out she was pregnant from a very, _very,_ misconceived night. A night aided by too much alcohol and so much guilt and shame seeping from Maggie after her phone call to her parents. James had been just as drunk, grieving the loss of his brother and they done something they never would have done if they weren’t hurting and drunk. "I meant job wise."

She tries to twist her hair away from her face but her fingers twist in the knots there and she bites her cheek to prevent the huff that usually escapes when that happens, instead she gentles her voice. "What brought this up?"

"Jamie told me she hated me." There's a thick pain to his voice, like he actually believes it.

"She's six Jay.” She’s soft, careful and wishing she could be there to sooth her best friend and the father of her child. “She hates everybody at one point."

"Mar, this was different. She wanted you last night, threw a fit. God it was like an atomic bomb of all fits. She wanted her mom and all she had was _me_." There's the slam of a door or something over the phone and she prays he isn't drinking, that it's just the cabinet.

Her hand tightens on the phone and she regrets her decision to move thousands of miles from them, if only because she can’t be there for them right now. Can’t drive thirty minutes and see them like she used to. "You're her father Jay, she loves you."

"I can't do this alone, I know we talked about this, but I can't. I _need_ you. I need my best friend and Jamie needs her mother."

"Jay.” Her voice cracks. Jamie is everything to her, but going to the town James lives in. The one his parents are at, the one that reminds her so much of Blue Springs, she can't.

"I'm not asking you to come here." His voice is gentle again, but there's something flickering in his voice. Something heavy.

She rubs at her face, tears threatening to fall. "Then what are you asking?"

He sighs, heavy and full of so many emotions. "I'm asking you to open your door Mar."

"What?" There's a knock. She startles, reaching for her gun before she pauses and makes her way to the door. She cautiously opens it and her phone slips from her fingers, clattering across the floor. James is standing there. Five weeks of stubble on his chin and his hair longer than she's seen it. It's curly, more so than she thought it ever would be. Jamie's asleep in his arms and his face is waning. "Jay?" Her voice cracks.

He smiles at her, slow and seeking. "Thought we'd move to National City?" His eyes are nearly pleading with her.

Maggie doesn't move, can't. She's staring at Jamie with shock and love. God her daughter has grown in the last seven months. Skype, face-time, _nothing_ showed the way her limbs had stretched out and the baby fat she'd dropped from her face. "I'm not dreaming?"

He steps slowly into the threshold, settling Jamie on the couch gently. Jamie, ever the heavy sleeper, does not wake, just mumbles and twists in the hoodie and sweats she wears. "No Mar, you're not."

Maggie’s hand shakes as she steps close and brushes hair from Jamie's face. Her daughter's pale eyes are closed but her hair is the disarray it always is. She'd inherited James' curls. "God, she's grown."

"She didn't sleep a wink on the flight over, chattered like no tomorrow." He drops at least three bags to the floor, shoulders hunched as he stares at Maggie cautiously. "Finally passed out in the taxi."

She stares at the bags, all detective skill leaving at the shock that had arrived on her doorstep. "You're staying?"

"If you'll have us? I need to find an apartment sometime, this was." His lips tremble. "This was _really_ last minute."

"You always were one for spontaneity." She aches to ask if he spoke to his therapist, if this would throw everything off kilter.

"My parents hated it when I was a kid, hell they still hate it." He takes a few steps closer hovering near the couch. He's got his sobriety chip still around his neck thankfully, but his hands tremble. "Does your second favorite person get a hug?"

She throws herself at him. He clings to her and sobs into her shoulder like he had when he'd found out about his father. She clings to him just as much, hadn't realized how much she had missed him and Jamie. "What about your job?" She murmurs into his shoulder.

"The sheriff understood." His voice is muffled from his crying and her hair. "Asked me why it took me so long to decide to follow after you."

Maggie wrinkles her nose and pulls back a bit. "He knows right?"

"Mar everyone knows you're a raging lesbian you dork. They knew when you threw Williams through a window." His hands slide to her elbow and squeeze gently. "He didn't think I was chasing after some romantic entanglement, knew I was following my daughter's mother."

"And your parents?"

His lip twists wryly. "Still think we'll get married someday."

She winces. "Jesus."

He grins that stupid grin that made nearly everyone swoon when they were younger and fresh-faced in the academy. "Yeah, mom mentioned him a few times."

She lets go of his shoulder. "Fuck Jay." Tears slip down her face. "Fuck, you're actually here."

"Missed you too." His eyes are soft and she's reminded of the small town boy who was at Gotham academy with her, the boy who wasn't afraid to cry just like he wasn't afraid to throw a punch. He moves to the fridge and opens it, reaching for the orange juice and uncapping it. He takes a deep chug, she doesn't berate him. She'd shared a flat with him when they were in the academy, knew all his stupid quirks just as he knew hers. "Rest of the bags will be here in a week."

She leans against the arm of the couch, staring at her daughter. "So, you weren't completely spontaneous?"

His eyes are still rimmed red from crying but he grins at her, that sadness slowly disappearing. "Petey helped me with most of it."

"Good, I've only got the couch, no spare room."

"It a pull-out?" She snorts at his question and he lets out a low sounds of amusement, staring at the couch with resolve. "You always were one to go for aesthetics than functionality Mar."

"Jay, it's leather.” Her fingers smooth over said leather. “Why would it be a pull-out?"

"I had hope, you're lucky i'm not a giant."

She reaches over and picks up Jamie, feels her snuggle into her shoulder with a soft mumble. Her limbs are long, she's still small though. Has Maggie's height. Maggie feels something in her chest settle at the fact that she can  _still_  pick up her daughter. "The bed's a king, but I swear if you cuddle me I will kill you."

He snorts. "You kick Mar, I'm not gonna cuddle a kicker." He moves slowly, pushing Jamie's hair from her face. She lets out a low grumble. "At least she took after me, don't think I can handle two people kicking me."

Maggie glares at him, weaving her way to her bedroom, but there’s more fondness in it than ire. "You're lucky you’re my best friend."

A cheeky grin crosses his face. "And the father of your child as well as your second favorite person." She aims a kick at his shin and he just chuckles as he dodges easily. 

* * *

* * *

 

Kara eyes Alex from the other side of the crowd before siding up to the agent. "I thought you weren't on field duty."

Alex rolls her eyes, crossing her arms. "I'm not."

Kara arches an eyebrow high, itching to grab Alex by the shoulders and fly her away from here, get her hidden away at home and away from the crowd. Problems always seemed to arise with crowds and speeches in National City. "Then why are you here?" 

"As a citizen." Alex grunts out, petulant frown on her face, nearly a scowl and Kara lets out a sharp laugh. Alex’s eyes narrow, nearly to a warning glare. "What?"

Kara shakes her head, doesn’t tell Alex that she can read every one of the agent’s expressions, knows every single one of Alex’s tics and the way her eyes crinkle when she’s worried about Kara. "Does J'onn know you're here? I know he only let you go to the police station as a doctor instead of field agent, so he can't have ordered you here."

Alex purses her lips, her heart doesn’t skip but Kara’s heard her lie to lie detectors before, there is no lie detector like a Kryptonian that’s known a person since they were young. "Kara drop it."

Kara narrows her eyes, reading between the lines, and pushing until Alex will admit it. Will come away from what she thinks is a weakness. "Seriously, Alex?"

"I knew you'd show up here.” Alex shifts her hip and un-crosses her arms, fingers brushing through her hair. “I wasn't leaving you alone."

Kara’s eyes crinkle and she wants to remind Alex that she’s Kryptonian, nearly impervious to everything, but Alex never did care about that. Only cared about protecting Kara, keeping her safe even if it meant endangering her own life. Kara wants to hate it, but its one of the things that makes Alex who she is. Kara’s voice goes soft, loving as she stares at Alex. "I can take care of myself Alex."

"I know.” Alex concedes, muscles loosening as her lips twitch, before letting out a huff. “But it was either come here to watch or get stuck in the lab.” She shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Today's my day off."

Kara lets out a low sigh but bumps her shoulder into Alex's. Itching to burying her nose near Alex’s temple, wrap her arms around her and thank her for always being there, even when Kara didn’t know she needed her. "Winn's bringing Konnor, they lost track of time at the arcade." Alex’s lips twitch and Kara rolls her eyes. “They don’t attract danger like you do Alex, it’s safe to bring them here.”

Alex lets out a half indignant squawk. “Excuse me? You’re the danger magnet Kar, always have been.”

Kara bumps into her shoulder again, reaching to tangle their fingers together, keeping her touch gentle. “At least I’m not a thrill seeker.” Alex scoffs at this but doesn’t deny it, she also refrains from mentioning that Kara’s a little bit of a thrill seeker as well.

* * *

 

Alex and Kara watch the people milling about, some speak in excited whispers and Kara inches closer and closer to Alex the more she hears from the group a few yards in front of them and to the left. Their signs are bold and full of hatred for aliens. Alex glares at them like she could burn them with heat vision herself, like it was her job to keep everything detrimental away from Kara. Kara worries her lip. “It’s fine Alex.”

Alex’s jaw is tight. “It’s not.”

Kara searches her face, the crinkle in her eyes and the downturn of Alex’s lips to the tense set of her shoulders and the way she grips Kara’s hand tight like she used to when Kara got scared and needed near crushing pressure of Alex's hand. “No, it’s not.” Kara’s voice is soft, Alex’s eyes find hers, searching gently, worrying. “But it’s life Alex, it’ll happen whether we like it or not.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to watch it without wanting to stop it, history is repeating itself. Yet no-one sees it like that.” Alex’s eyes flash harshly to the crowd full of alien haters. Kara knows what she means, remembers the museums they’d gone to, remembers the way Alex’s grandfather’s voice would wane when he spoke of certain times of his past before he died. Most of all Kara remembers the fights she’d had to break up where humans ganged up on an alien in the back alleys of National City.

Kara tightens her hold slightly, letting Alex know she’s heard, she’s understood before two heartbeats catch her attention. Winn’s breathless pants and Konnor’s steady footfalls head their way. “Konnor.” Kara breathes out gently and watches Alex’s shoulders slump, she looks back to the crowd of picketers with a heavy and dark sigh, like they could get Konnor from over there. The two boys make they’re way through the crowd, Konnor height an advantage as Winn trails next to him.

Konnor eyes the signs curiously as he and Winn come to a stop next to Alex and Kara. Konnor’s got a grip on Winn’s hand, that he drops so Winn can place his hands on his own thighs, bend over and wheeze for breath like Konnor had forced Winn to hurry. "What is that?" Konnor’s voice is low, curious yet weary.

Alex glares at the signs, hands twitching as if to grab the gun at tucked into the back of her jeans. "Xenophobia, they don't like aliens." She doesn’t lie to him, can’t lie to him about this.

Konnor furrows his brow, knows Superman didn’t like him because Konnor was his clone, but this, he hadn't seen this coming. From CADMUS maybe, but not from the public, not from people who screamed victory at the hero. Not from people that Kara saved on a daily basis. "Why?"

Kara's lips tremble, and her eyes go sad, like she’s in her pod again and watching the inevitable happen. "Because we're different."

Something breaks across his face, like the world is shattering and he looks angry and devastated all at once. " _Oh_."

"Yeah,” Kara’s voice has the same tone and Alex wants to wrap them both up and protect them from a world that hated what they stood for. “The President wants an Alien Amnesty Act, they'll vote on it in a few months, she’s campaigning right now. To give aliens the rights they deserve." Kara bumps his shoulder, soothing his worries. "I wanted you to see history in the making."

He darts his gaze around the crowd before leaning into both Kara and Alex’s hands. "Why'd she come here?"

Kara smirks, backing away slowly and winking at them as her hand drops away from Konnor’s shoulder. "Female superhero who is also an alien." She waves at them before disappearing into the crowd. They spot her flying in the sky seconds later, cape billowing behind her. Most of the crowd cheers, the other part grumbles.

Winn has a camera in his hands, having pulled it from his satchel once he caught his breath. "James is somewhere here, but I want one for my own collection." His eyes are bright. "You excited Konnor?"

Konnor scowls, glaring at the signs that tell him to leave. That scream his kind doesn’t belong. "It's noisy here." He steps closer to Alex, listening to her heartbeat as the President makes her way to the podium. The metal detector goes off in the distance and a few of the security guard and police officers look to the metal detector at the entrance where a man in a wheelchair is grumbling at the security guards there. Konnor twitches his nose at the smell of human sweat and something metallic that doesn't belong. It smells familiar enough to make him tense. Synapses in his brain telling him to run, the smell reminds him of CADMUS. He searches the crowd for a familiar face, itching to point them out to Alex and have her take care of them so this fear that sits heavy in his stomach will disappear.

"Good morning National City!" The crowd quiets and President Marsdin smiles at them. The air seems to swim in anticipation and Alex looks around the crowd, keeping tabs. The hairs on the back of her neck stand up and Konnor is tense beside her. She reaches for him as the President continues speaking "It is with immense pleasure that I arrive here this morning, I know ma-" There a sudden deafening sound. Worse than anything Konnor has ever heard before. His hands clamp over his ears as the crowd panics.

The explosion is to the left of the building far away from the metal detector, where most of the electronics were kept. There's a burning hole left in the ground and the air is thick with the smell of burning metal and flesh. Konnor presses hard enough into Alex that she grunts but tightens her hold. Winn throws his arm over Konnor, eyes wide with terror and chest frozen like he was back in front of his father, a gun in his hand.

Kara lands on the stage, shielding the President in case there is an attempt on her life. No guns go off, no one charges the stage and the secret service is herding the President away within seconds. No one goes after her. Kara’s eyes find Alex as the human leads Konnor through the panicking crowd. Winn is holding onto the back of Alex's jacket, nearly pressed into her as they shield Konnor from the crowd. Kara itches to go to them but there's screaming everywhere. 

Some of the crowd begins shouting, making their way to Kara, shouting about aliens. There's no body pieces or clothing near the epicenter, but the building creaks from the instability the explosion caused. As far as Alex can see there's no injured or dead, just a terrified crowd that is slowly morphing into a mob. "The aliens did this! They caused the explosion." Kara’s eyes are wide as she watches this happen, as she watches the crowd dissolve and their hate turns on her.

* * *

 

 

The police swarm the area quickly, sectioning off everyone and interviewing who they can. Alex flashes her badge a few times and moves to stand by an SUV, Kara slams onto the ground next to her, cape fluttering. Alex itches to hold her hand, to soothe the tension in her shoulders, but they aren’t Kara and Alex, they’re Special Agent Danvers and Supergirl right now. "Any casualties Supergirl?"

"Possibly one, right where the explosion happened.” Her nose still itches with the smell of burnt metal and flesh, only she and a few others that weren’t human could smell it. Knew that someone got caught in it.

"Get Konnor home, then we'll fan out.” Alex’s is nearly twitching with the need to drag her family away from the crowd. “We have to find who did this before CADMUS does."

Kara furrows her brow, she darts her eyes around the crowd, looking for any indication that they are here. "CADMUS?"

"CADMUS will probably blame it on aliens like the crowd did." Alex grumbles out, jaw tight. Her brain is running trying to piece together everything, in her gut she knows this is connected somehow. Knows that the Alien Amnesty Act is exactly what CADMUS is against, but she can’t figure out how exactly it is connected.

Kara lets out a soft sigh, fingers tight on her cape as if to keep herself from reaching out to Alex. She barely keeps her shoulders straight in her Supergirl persona, can’t help the way her body automatically relaxes around Alex, even if they are in a place neither of them should be relaxed in. "I'll check through my mom's archives, see if an alien even has powers to do this."

Alex rubs at her brow. "Look at alien weaponry too, I'll check my notes as well when I go into DEO. This has to do with the Alien Amnesty Act and we need to know if whoever was caught in that was a casualty or the cause. It was either a weapon used by a human or alien or an alien that used powers."

"Winn with Konnor?"

"Yeah, they're hiding out in our car.” The crowd continues to scream around them, though it is slowly dying down. Cameras continue to flash, reporters getting any shot that they can of the explosion and the crowd. Alex makes sure to keep her head at an angle, so her hair obscures her face in case she’s caught in any images. Kara’s phone is continuing to vibrate, and she knows it’s Miss Grant, but she puts off answering it until she can Alex figure this out, once she’s out of suit she’ll message the woman to let her know exactly what happened. Alex ignores the vibrating coming from Kara’s boot too, continuing to speak. “Vasquez will have to stay with him until we finish here, we need to limit his contact with the DEO and we need someone trained to protect him. This may be the catalyst we’ve been expecting."

Kara nods, searching the area until she finds their car. It’s a block away and Konnor is slumped in the front seat, Winn chattering away in the back. He’s leaning over the front console to speak to Konnor, distracting him so Alex and Kara can come up with a game plan. "Okay, so Vasquez watches Konnor and Winn, then we go after the bomber?"

Alex stares at the epicenter, the burnt edges and the smoke that’s still wafting from it. "If they’re even alive still.” Lips twitch and she nearly nudges Kara. “You always wanted to stop an assassination attempt right?"

"Not as much as catching corrupt cops and politicians." And Kara's vibrating now. "It'll be fun right? A little bit of Danvers investigation." Alex scowls at her and Kara’s smile is soft and warm but just as excited. "Fine, fine. Just normal regular investigation then. See you soon Alex." Kara shoots off into the sky, most likely to grab Winn and Konnor and fly them home. Alex sends a quick message to Vasquez and looks around. 

The crowd has calmed down slowly with the involvement of the police, some still scream but they are herded away. The picket signs have been thrown to the ground and the police are moving through each person. Alex nearly grabs the person who walks up to her and throws them against the SUV but she recognizes the short stature and those fucking dimples. "FBI on this?" Maggie's voice is cautious yet curious.

Alex shrugs. "Just doing my job." She stops leaning against the SUV, eyeing the detective. "What've you found so far?"

Maggie nearly swaggers as she slips a hand to her hip and arches an eyebrow. "Here or on our other alien?"

Alex blinks slowly before shifting, not back, but in place like she doesn’t want to give Maggie any more lead than she has. "Both?"

Maggie stares at her for a few seconds before nodding, as if coming to a conclusion in her head. "Our friendly rampager’s name is Viv, he was higher than a junkie would be on PCP."

Alex nods, running calculations in her head. "Explains the hallucinations and the accusations he threw at Supergirl."

Maggie hums in agreement, searches the area just as Alex is, looking for danger even as they talk. "Yeah, trouble is finding out exactly what he got into."

Alex shifts from FBI Alex to scientist Alex, curious. "No human drugs?"

"No, at least none in our databases.” Maggie huffs out, there’s bags under her eyes and her shoulders slump slightly. “And we have to wait until his other blood tests come back to see what exactly he flushed out."

"What does he remember?"

"Eating a cake at his business mixer, after that nothing."

Alex purses her lips. "You thinking someone did something to him on purpose?"

Maggie tucks her hair behind her ear, fighting with the dark waves as she huffs out. "No idea, but you saw how they reacted today, blamed the bombing on aliens already, without any evidence."

Alex purses her lips, staring at the epicenter. "It was controlled, too controlled for a homemade bomb."

Maggie narrows her eyes, suspicion in them. "What're you thinking Danvers?"

Alex ignore her question, pressing on like Maggie wasn't looking at Alex. "We need to find out who died, they were either the target, a casualty or the perpetrator. With the controlled area of the explosions it’s either an alien or human using alien tech. No way this was just human technology, too clean. Too controlled."

Maggie presses on, longing to confirm all the suspicions she's had. "Now why would the FBI suspect alien tech?"

"Like you said, crowd was pretty quick to go after aliens." Alex slips past all the other police officers and detectives, moves to the epicenter of the explosion and crouches down, evading answering Maggie's questions. "I need some samples to send back to my lab."

Maggie purses her lips, searching Alex's face. "I can do that, but human or alien, NCPD has rights to it, not you."

Alex grits her teeth, fights not to glare at Detective Sawyer. "They attacked the President."

"Work with me Danvers.” Maggie flashes her dimples. “I get you the samples and you give me the perp when we catch them."

Alex chews on her lip, knows there’s jurisdiction and a million other problems before she grits out. "Deal."

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Kara opens the door to their apartment easily, Alex purses her lips but knows Vasquez probably already knew it was them and not an intruder or CADMUS. Alex nudges the door shut and clicks the lock as Kara drops their stuff on the living-room couch and makes her way into the kitchen, where Vasquez is watching Konnor put the final touches on some dish. Winn is sitting on the counter, tapping his heel against the side as he messes around on his tablet. There's flour in his hair and a Konnor sized hand print in flour across his shoulder. Konnor isn't fairing much better, flour across his nose and something that once was sticky forcing a dried clump around his temple. Vasquez is the only one that looks remotely normal, though there is a few smatterings of flour across her shoes and the edges of her sleeves. Vasquez grins at them. "Managed to wrangle these two to help make dinner while we waited."

Kara's practically salivating, pulls Vasquez into a tight hug before patting Winn's knee and moving to stand near Konnor, watching as he painstakingly places servings onto the plates. He looks up with a grin, that pained look from the speech gone. "I didn't burn anything."

Alex's lips twitch and she leans against the other counter across from them. "You're already better than Kara then."

"Hey!" Kara' squawks out. "My oven was faulty and I cook turkey perfectly well thank you very much." Alex snorts, just to rib Kara some more and Winn shakes his head.

Setting down his tablet Winn grabs two plates. "You guys are still better cooks than I am."

Vasquez nearly splutters with laughter but contains herself while Konnor gives him an unimpressed stare. "You tried to dump water over the grease fire."

Winn nearly dumps the plates in his hands when he jerks them to motions widely, luckily Kara saves them, grabbing the plates and speeding them over to the table. Winn ignores all of this to pout in Konnor and Vasquez direction. "Usually water puts out fire."

Vasquez rolls her eyes but carries two plates to the table while Konnor grabs the last two, no one else says anything but Winn huffs and slumps over to the table.

* * *

 

Once the food and daily conversation was had the topic turns to the bombing. "Well I did a signature scan to find Reatron.” Winn adverts his eyes from Alex’s glare, keeps from looking at her when he mentions the villain that nearly took out Kara. “I could try the same with the person or weapon you’re looking for, the metal shards found at the scene probably has a unique signature, the blast radius was not normal. Not of Earth.” His eyes dart to Alex but all he finds is agreement. With a relieved release of breath, he continues. “If it's an alien they'll give off the same signature, if it's a weapon I could try to track it down like I did with Reactron's suit?"

Vasquez leans forward, arching an eyebrow. "You think you can top the DEO tracking?" Alex leans back, lips nearly twitching as she reads Vasquez’s body language and the lit to her voice. Kara furrows her brow but watches on, sharing a quick look with Konnor.

"You guys have to get permission to use the satellites, or you use your own and they're too delayed.” Vasquez is still staring at him and he stutters. “I um. I don't." Konnor tenses, listening to Winn’s heart race, it’s quicker than he’s heard it before, but he takes his cues from Alex and Kara. Alex is relaxed and Kara is furrowed confusion so he relaxes, though still ready to grab Winn and pull him away from whatever danger is making his heart race.

Vasquez leans back in her chair. "So, you hack?"

Winn jitters his leg in place under the table, fingers twisting around the fork in his hand. He looks to Alex and Kara for help, then to Konnor before back at Vasquez. "I prefer testing boundaries?"

"You want to hack the satellites, without the government finding out." Vasquez leans forward, voice dropping low. "And you're telling a government agent?"

Winn blinks at her, fiddling with his fork before he licks his lips. "Yo-um. You like computers too, I thought you might want to help?"

Vasquez grabs one of the last rolls, smirking slowly, teasingly. "I like you Winn, but I can't actively participate in breaking the law. I'm not Alex, I follow the rules."

Alex lets out a loud snort, before she covers her mouth and nose with her hand. Konnor is looking between them curiously, like he's trying to figure something out. "Of course you do Vas." Alex snarks out.

Vasquez laughs, but stands up, grabbing her plate and napkin. "I'll leave you lot to breaking the law. I set up a few guards around the building if you need anything bud." She squeezes Konnor's shoulder and winks at Kara. "Stay out of trouble." She moves to the kitchen to deposit her dishes in the sink gently.

 Alex's phone rings as Vasquez heads to grab her things and Alex huffs, reading the text quickly. Letting out a low sigh she stands. "I gotta go, Detective Sawyer has a lead." She squeezes Kara's elbow before squeezing Konnor's shoulder, she'd always been awkward about physical affection in front of people and Winn and Vasquez still count as people despite knowing them. "I'll be back."

Kara narrows her eyes. "Did J'onn lift your suspension?"

Alex tilts her head to the side, stopping mid-way through pulling on her jacket. "I'm not going as a DEO Agent Kara, just as Alex."

Kara worries her teeth but remains quiet as Vasquez snorts and shakes her head, slipping out the door ahead of Alex. "Lucky Director Lane can't read minds, you owe me one Danvers."

Alex grins at her companion and Kara watches after her, worried and wanting as Alex closes the door behind her and says. "Thanks Vas."

Kara itches to dart after Alex, to watch her back but there a hum in her ear before Lucy is calling for her to head downtown to the factory district for a very large fire. Winn waves her away and she presses a kiss to the brow of Konnor's head. He doesn't pull away like most teenagers would, he leans into it, starved for affection he didn't know he needed. "I'll be back, ten minutes tops. Try to stay out of trouble."

Winn makes an indignant sound while Konnor rolls his eyes, there's worry in them. "Be careful."

Kara grins, ruffling his hair. "Will do, Alex and I will both be back before you know it. Love you guys." With a sudden burst of speed she's out the window and heading to the fire.

Winn grins, nudging at Konnor's shin with his toe. "You can help me try and track the bomber, maybe we'll have something by the time they get back."

Konnor scoots his chair over, narrowing his eyes at the computer. "How are you going to track it?"

Winn's smile is nearly manic and his fingers fly across the screen, Konnor leans close to watch the symbols and numbers dance across the screen. "We'll make a hacker of you yet Kon."

* * *

  

Alex parks the bike and sets her helmet on her bike as she swings her leg over the seat. She spots Maggie, the woman an easy silhouette to recognize in the dark streets. "What do you have?"

Maggie snorts, eye brow raising high as her hands tuck into her pockets. "Jeez Danvers, make a girl feel special."

Alex grinds her teeth, slightly irritating at having to leave family dinner. "I'm on a case trying to prove whether or not the President was attacked by an alien."

Maggie grins, dimples flashing in what Alex assumes would be a charming smile if Alex weren’t irritated and didn’t have the world on her mind. "Yeah, and I can tell you there's no aliens that can create bombs like that, and none of them match the metal or the chemical signatures we found there."

"And how do you know that?" Alex grunts out, wary.

"Connections Danvers." Maggie’s face does an odd thing, prideful yet cautious all at once before knocking on the door and whispering a password Alex can't make out.

They walk in and Alex shakes her head at the low lighting, the music that beats in the background and the people that are slumped in their chairs Her chest constricts, and she fight the wave of need and panic that settles over her. "This is where you get your information? A dive-bar?" She barely keeps her voice from wavering and her hands from shaking.

Maggie rolls her eyes and calls out lowly. "Two please Darla."

"I don't drink." Alex grumbles out, jaw tight, nearly trembling.

Maggie nods in acquisition and motions to Darla as she leads Alex to the bar. "Okay, well Danvers, this isn't just a dive bar. Look around, _detect_.” Maggie’s eyes flash in amusement. “Things aren't always what they appear. What do you see?"

Alex recognizes the look on some of their faces, had it years ago when her life was spiraling out of control. That weary loss, guilt and shame that hangs like a shadow, chased away by alcohol only to return in the morning, hitting just as hard as the hangover. "People who've made questionable life choices." She leans against the counter, rolling her eyes over each patron before it clicks, slowly. The last year of working with Kara and J’onn had desensitized her to it, but she sees it with daunting recognition. She'd fought an alien with those teeth before and brow ridge before. The one in the booth had silver hair and bright yellow eyes had thrown Jackson through a wall before he'd escaped months ago. Alex chest seizes, instincts taking over. Years of training honed into this moment, her hand stretches for her gun and Maggie grabs her wrist quickly, before the gun can even pull from beneath Alex’s jacket. Alex had reacted without thought, without taking stock of the fact that she was outnumbered fifteen to one.

"Easy Danvers." Maggie's voice is soothing and her fingers soft against Alex wrist, calming.

Alex heart pounds, there's at least fifteen or more aliens here, not including the bartenders. She recognizes at least three of them as some from Fort Rozz’s archives. "What the _hell_ , why'd you bring me here?" Alex hisses out, normally when she’s met up with aliens that weren't known it ended up with bruises, cuffs and a worried and slightly pissed Kryptonian hovering over her shoulder.

"This is a haven for off worlders." There's a bite in Maggie's tone, a warning and she released Alex’s wrist. Maggie’s face is twisted like Kara’s was when Alex had fought the Fort Rozz guard.

Alex slumps against the bar, suddenly _aching_ for alcohol. She curbs it best she can, letting Agent Danvers fall away slowly. "So, you come here for your CI's?"

"Sometimes.” Maggie’s watching her, calculating. Alex knows she is looking for something that’ll make her regret bringing Alex with her. “Sometimes I come in here just for a drink."

The waitress drops off Maggie's beer and a sprite for Alex. Her bright eyes dart over Alex quickly, before turning back to Maggie. "New meat Mags?"

Maggie grins, dimples popping out and Alex swears the bartender melts just a little bit. "Not too new. Thanks Darla."

Alex stares at the woman, brain running before it hits like a freight train. Agent Danvers falls away completely, and her resident science nerd pops out. Alex seemingly vibrates in her seat, almost like Kara when they’d went to the animal rescue center her second year on Earth. "That bartender, is she Roltikkon?"

Alex eyes are bright and Maggie stares at her with a wry confused twist of her lips, like she can’t quiet figure Alex out yet. "Yes, she is."

Alex’s fingers dance across her glass, not drinking it but smoothing over the glass surface and catching the condensation, her eyes are wide though, thoughtful. "I've read Roltikkon can form telepathic connections by making physical contact with the dorsum of the tongue."

Maggie's lips twist wryly now. "They can."

Alex tilts her head to the side curiously, calculating the way Maggie seems to grow smug yet bashful all at once. "How do you know?"

"How do you think? She's my ex.” Maggie leans close enough to keep their conversation private. “Now tell me, do you only read about aliens Danvers?"

Alex stiffens suddenly, years of training barely hiding the way she wants to slam Maggie into the table, cuff her and drag her to the pits of the DEO. Klaxons blare in Alex’s head, telling her to be cautious, that Maggie knows _something_ or suspects something. "What do you mean?"

Maggie shrugs, almost nonchalant but Alex sees right through it. "I mean the _FBI_ has you bag and nab ‘em, right?"

Alex's jaw clenches, and it’s like she’s pulling Kara from the kryptonite cuffs again when the DEO first caught her. Heavy chest and thick guilt at just the thought. "I bring the dangerous ones in."

Maggie scoffs, sipping at her beer, eyeing Alex from the corner of her eye, that teasing air is gone and in her place is something with a hardened resolve. "The one who robbed the bank a few weeks ago?"

Alex almost glares at the detective and nearly slams her glass into the counter. She lets out a slow breath, quelling the rage that always seemed to burn bright in her. "He had dangerous tech that would obliterate a human."

Maggie looks unimpressed and keeps pressing, eyes now hard. "The one who stole hubcaps?"

Alex swallows but refuses to drop Maggie's gaze. She can’t, Maggie wears the same look Kara had when Astra was imprisoned. The same look Alex had when J’onn was thrown in a cell. Maggie wears righteous anger just as well as the rest of them, despite this Alex grits through her teeth. "He secretes poison with his touch."

"So, you just lock them all away, without trial?"

Alex turns her head slightly, jaw clicking as Maggie hits every thought and doubt that Alex had ever had when she first started at the DEO. "I do what I need to, to protect people."

Maggie drops her bottle to the bar-top with a loud clack, some eyes turn in their direction, but Maggie ignores them, twisting her lips into something like a grimace. "Humans you mean?” Alex wrinkles her nose without thinking. As far as Alex could care. humanity could suck it. They'd never been good to her, or to Kara. Maggie presses on when she spots Alex's reaction, confirming suspicions the detective had already had. "But I don't believe that. You do it to protect someone you care about, not for humanity as a whole. The question is why would someone you care about need protecting from aliens? Or is it that they need protection from the inside?" She'd seen how close Alex and Supergirl were, had seen how Kara Danvers files weren't quite normal and something niggled at the back of her mind and made her gut churn. Alex Danvers had her hands tangled in the pits of aliens, detaining them yet keeping their company.

"I'm leaving." Alex bites out. The detective was too close to home, too close to finding out about Kara and Alex hunting Fort Rozz escapees to protect her. Too close to _knowing_ everything Alex did to protect Kara. Alex stands and tosses down some money on the table. "Thanks for the tip Sawyer. We know it's not an alien at least." Alex's mind whirls, between the information Sawyer had given her to the way the woman had seemingly read Alex like a book. 

* * *

 

 

Maggie watches the woman leave the bar, shoulders tight before the door shuts behind the auburn haired woman. Maggie knows she either ruined everything or pushed just the right amount. The detective blinks wearily and looks up at the footsteps coming her way. Darla stops by her table, eyeing the still full glass of sprite as she props her hip against the table edge. "Who was she?"

Maggie sips at her beer again, before nonchalantly saying. "Alien black-ops, 95% sure."

Darla's eyes widen, and her nostril flares, if she had physical power Maggie knows they’d be showing themselves right now with the disbelief and fury the woman feels. "You brought her here? Maggie!"

"Peace Darla." Maggie settles her fingers against Darla's wrist, soothing the panic and anger with just a touch. Pushing all the trust and peace she could, letting the woman feel them. "She won't come in here to bring anyone in and she won't bring her swat team or whatever they are."

Darla eyes her wearily, but she is no longer tense. "How can you be sure?"

Maggie lets out a low sound, dropping Darla’s wrist to run a hand through her hair. "C'mon, I know you read her."

"I can only read slight emotions and intents.” Darla bites out, low so none of the other patrons hear it. “I'm not a martian, I can't read  _minds."_

Maggie licks her lips, nearly nervous but pressing with a false bravado that had gotten her through most of her life. "Did you see any ill intent?"

"No." Darla bites out lowly. "But if she's who you say she is then she took Mundy, at least her people did."

"Yeah, but she's on the fence about that." Maggie taps her fingers against the counter top, leaning in close to keep their conversation low and private. "She didn't take the job because she hated aliens, she's protecting someone."

"How do you know that?"

Maggie smirks, slow and in a way that would make most women swoon. "I'm a detecti-" Darla shoves the human off her stool and Maggie hits the ground with a grunt. Darla stares at her with a flat look and Maggie huffs, slowly getting to her feet and pursing her lips at Darla.

Darla looks unimpressed with both Maggie's expression and her previous words. "That line only works once, especially on me."

Maggie clambers back into her chair with a gangly nature that doesn't belay the grace she has when at work. "Yeah, yeah." She takes a drink of the now too warm beer. 

Darla lets out a low annoyed sound, grabbing Maggie's beer bottle and tossing it in the trash can hidden behind the bar. "Answer my question Mags."

Maggie gnaws at her bottom lip. "Dar, this can't get out."

Darla nods, grabbing Maggie's hand and leading her upstairs quickly. The other bartender, Luca, glares at them, but huffs once he spots Maggie. The two women climb the stairs and head down a hallway until they get to Darla's bedroom, the one across from M'gann's above the bar. "Explain Maggie."

Maggie flops back on the bed, pressing her hands over her eyes. "Pretty sure she's dating an alien and they have a kid together?"

Darla stands near the window, staring out into the night as Maggie lays on her bed. "You don't sound sure."

"I've investigated the best I could, their social medias are blank slates." Maggie grabs a pillow to press beneath her head as she stares at the ceiling. "The blonde moved in with her family three years before Alex graduated high school. The documentation is fishy but perfect."

Darla presses her shoulder into the window sill, watching the quiet night. The streets are empty. Emptier than they were months ago. "Too perfect though."

"Yeah." Maggie scoffs out. "I know documents and the girl's is fake."

Darla lets out a low sound, listening to the music thump below before she breaks the silence, thinking of the conversation downstairs. "So, the human joined to protect the alien."

"My bet yeah." Maggie shifts on the bed, letting out a sigh as she sits up. "She's conflicted."

Darla shuts the curtain to the window and steps towards the bed. "All I felt was terror and rage."

Maggie's lips twitch wryly and Darla is reminded of the detective that had swooped in when Darla had gotten in a bind all those years ago. The one that had stolen a piece of her heart. "Yeah well I asked her if she was protecting someone or if she really liked capturing aliens."

"Subtle." Darla snarks. She sits down on the bed next to Maggie, finding comfort in the warmth Maggie emits. "How old is their kid?"

"Fifteen." Darla eyes her skeptically. "Cousin of the alien, so he's probably an alien too, though his documents are forged better than hers."

Darla closes her eyes, reminded of the times Maggie wasn't quick enough or wasn't as informed as she thought she was. "Be careful Mags, if she feels like you’re threatening them-"

Maggie grabs Darla's wrist, thumb soothing over it and a calmness settles in Darla's chest. "I'll be fine, I'm not threatening them. Hopefully they can help."

"How?"

"Alien Amnesty Act coming up means we can go to the black ops place and see about freeing Mundy and others like him." Maggie doesn't grab her hand, doesn't tangle their fingers like Darla knows human likes and something thick and heavy disappears from Darla's chest. Maggie always knew how to settle Darla, knew that tangled fingers felt like a prison to her. The detective still remembered exactly how to keep Darla calm. "If she's on the fence about imprisoning them, she's my way to get them out."

"And you can check and see how many of our people are in there when you first go in."

Maggie nods. "And the ones that aren't there are with the other two groups. It’ll help narrow the search window done." Maggie bites her lip. "M'gann still missing?" 

Darla stiffens. "Yes, but she's always disappeared for months on time. Back in 1918 she left for nearly two years." Darla's brow furrows and she turns more to her side, slipping her hand around the wrist to Maggie's free hand. "But she always comes home."

Maggie understand immediately, letting out a soothing hum and shifting until her knees press into Darla's thigh and her thumb rubs soft and soothing across the tendons in Darla's wrist. "Any way to check and make sure she's alive and not in either of those places?"

"No." Darla's eyes shimmer with tears and she closes her eyes. "She'll be fine, she's always fine." 

Maggie leans against Darla more so, pressing until the alien relaxes. "Okay." Maggie murmurs quietly and they sit there in silence until Maggie's mind wanders to her sleeping child and the need to check and make sure she and James are still there.

"You have to go." Darla murmurs quietly, feeling the shift in Maggie's emotions.

"Yeah." Maggie presses her forehead to Darla's temple and lets out a soft sigh. "I just wanted to spark a fire under her feet, get everything moving before I headed home."

Darla scoffs, forcing her own eyes open to glare at Maggie. "One of these days it won't turn out so well."

"I know."

Darla pulls her wrist free, Maggie lets go easily, concern written across her face. "You'll actually have to be careful Mags."

"Dar-"

"I'm serious, you have an offspring." Darla presses her hands to Maggie's knees, squeezing until her nails bite into the detective's skin. "She will need her mother, not a coffin."

Maggie purses her lips, and Darla can feel the turmoil she's in. "I know Darla, I've fought with James about this long ago.”

Darla releases the tight grips slowly, feels the blood rush back into her fingers after her iron like grip on Maggie. "Will I meet her?"

"She'd like you." Maggie says quietly after she nods. Darla lets out a low hum, trying to imagine a child of Maggie. "She's fascinated with languages right now, National City will be good for her."

"We will watch for your blood." Darla murmurs quietly, a heady promise in her voice. "You have looked out for us, no one will harm or let harm come to what is yours."

They're quiet, Maggie searching Darla's face and finding a resolute promise. Maggie's lips tremble. "Thank you." She stands up slowly, smiling gently at Darla. "I gotta go Dar." She presses a kiss to the Roltikkon's cheek. "Let me know if anything pops up."

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Alex finishes setting up her machine to run tests on the bomb material after having spoken to J'onn about the bombing. His disapproving stare hadn't stopped her from going to her lab, but his sigh sounded like the one she'd gotten from her father and mother when she's broken her wrist and still insisted on surfing. The machine beeps in confirmation and Alex makes her way out of the room after connecting her phone to the machine and locking the door behind her. She can hear the soft murmur of Kara's voice and Lucy's witty drawl.

"What’s your deal with Sawyer Kar?" Lucy’s voice is wry as she flips through Kara’s notes on the detective and the files she pulled form the police station. Legally of course, Lucy was a lawyer after all.

Kara stares at her, arms crossed over her chest, pushing the House of El sigil up before she takes in a deep breath and begins, eyes wide and words rushed like she tended to do when she was overwhelmed. "She asks so many questions. Like a lot. And she smirks with." Kara begins to motion to her face jerkily. "Dimples! She has dimples, I don't _understand_." With a huff and a pout Kara crosses her arms again.

Alex furrows her brow as she comes around the corner. “I’ve seen her dimples.” Her voice is cautious, a little confused but Kara nods her head empathetically, like Alex knows exactly what she’s talking about.

Lucy stares at the two of them, something like amusement in her eyes and she wishes the Danvers weren't so blind. One had x-ray vision and the other was a secret agent yet they missed the simplest signs so Lucy teases them relentlessly. "You always have problems talking to girls Kara?"

Alex snorts. "Kara's got problems talking to anyone."

"Hey!"

"People she finds attractive at least." Lucy states. The other two freeze, blinking at Lucy with near identical owlish eyes. Her lips twist into a shit-eating grin and both the Danvers stiffen, waiting or Lucy to drop the ball. "Don't think it didn't float around that Supergirl said I smelled good."

"Oh god." Kara buries her face in her hands and her voice hits an octave Lucy would have rather not heard. " _Alex_ , make her stop."

Alex furrows her brows and tilts her head likes she confused and offended all in one. "Do you _like_ Sawyer?"

Kara’s eyes widen, and she shakes her head quickly, nearly at super-speed. "NO! Not that- I don't not like her.” Kara hands flutter around and Alex just blinks at her, reminded  of the many time of when Kara had come over after working for Cat the first year, just as flustered. “I just don't like her  _like_  her. But she's so small.” Kara scrunches her hands together and darts her gaze to Lucy. “Like smaller than Lucy and she asks way too many questions."

That catches Alex’s attention and her shoulders straighten, eyes narrowing. "What kind?"

Kara tilts her head, blinking at Alex like she can read her mind and all her nervous energy disappears. "You know something."

Alex purses her lips, gnawing on the bottom one like she used to when she and Kara would be corner by a questioning Eliza in the kitchen. Nights where Alex and Kara had snuck out of the house for something that was just for them, away from the oppressing house and the dark shadows of Jeremiah’s death. "She might suspect you're an alien." Alex’s face is twisted in consternation now.

"What?" Kara shouts out, voice high with confusion and shock. Lucy snorts, biting the corner of her lip to keep from laughing, Kara looks so shocked that Maggie may have figured out her secret, like a pair of glasses, slouched shoulders and a up-do changed the fact that Kara was otherworldly.

Alex’s face twists like she’s following along the same thought process as Lucy. "She mentioned something along the lines at the bar."

Kara's blinks at her quickly and all her confusion and shock is gone as she cautiously presses, mostly worried about Alex now. She hadn't smelt alcohol on her, knew she hadn't drank but still. "Bar?"

Alex huffs out. "An alien bar she took me too."

There’s a shocked sort of hope in Kara’s eyes now, like there was a little piece of Rao or Krypton in a place Kara had yet to walk into. "We have an alien bar?"

Lucy shakes her head, putting a stop to all the back and forth Kara and Alex always managed to get into. "You get the NDA's Alex, if she knows get her ass to sign them. If she won't sign I'll have her job taken." Lucy's eyes dart to Kara with a resigned annoyance. "Bad enough I had to get half of _CatCo_ to sign them." Kara blushes and Alex scowls. "Let’s go have a fucking game night, I need it."

"Your dad?" Kara questions gently, stepping forward to set her fingers to Lucy’s elbow. Kara’s tactical, reaching out to reassure Lucy, while Alex reaches for her gun, subconsciously like she’d point it at Lucy’s father and risk being carted off again. Like Lucy's pain was hers to fix.

Lucy leans into Kara's hand and is thankful for the Danvers girls in this instant, thankful for Kara's steady hands and calm concern. Thankful for Alex's lack of hesitation and her unwavering protectiveness. "He's been on the DEO about the attack on the President, refuses to believe it wasn’t aliens. Heard one of the agents mention it, they’re Pam’s problem now." Lucy huffs, pissed that some locker room talk between two knuckled headed agents reached her father. No matter how many forms she made him sign and how many loops she forced him through, he still found a way to get information. Lucy rubs at her forehead, knowing she has the same tenacious dog with bone tendency he has. "I just need a night without work, Vasquez has five agents and a million cameras keeping an eye on him and Anderson knows to call me if anything comes up at the base."

Alex gently touches her shoulder, reassuring in a way Lucy has slowly come to expect from the supposed resident bad-ass. "C'mon, Konnor wants to try RISK, Kara just bought it."

Lucy squeezes both of the Danvers' hands and steps back slowly, letting a cocky smirk stretch across her lips. "I'll kick your asses, just like I do at Settlers of Catan."

"Bull." Alex grumbles out, but there’s a spark of challenge in her eyes and Lucy knows tonight will be an all out war tonight that very well may carry into the early morning.

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

The next morning Alex is very carefully keeping her eyes off the clock, knowing the more she looks at it the slower time will seem to crawl. A bell jingles and Alex looks to the door letting out a sigh as she spots Maggie coming into the diner she'd told Alex to meet her at. The detective grins at her and sits down across from her, grabbing one of Alex's fries. "You're early Danvers."

"Maybe you're late Sawyer." Alex grumbles out, staring at the hand that reaches again to take her fries. With a huff Alex shoves the plate to the middle of the table, figures the first actual meal she eats in front of a human and not an alien ends her food is still eaten. "What'd you wanna meet for?"

Maggie arches an eyebrow, dimples threatening to pop. "Straight to the point, like it."

"Sawyer." Alex growls out, and Maggie catches the nervousness in her eyes, assumes Alex thought she was here about Alex's aliens and not business.

"It's about the bombing." Maggie watches Alex relax, her shoulders dropping that minuscule tension they'd had. "Same damn stuff that was used to scare Lena Luthor."

Alex nods like she'd already come to that conclusion and Maggie chuffs out a chuckle, figures the top secret agent may very well be on par with Maggie's line of thought. Alex narrows her eyes at the detective, eating another fry. "What is it?"

"All we know is that it was the same stuff used at LCorp speech." Maggie slips a baggy of metal pieces from the bomb at LCorp out of her jacket and nudges it across the table. "Was hoping your tech savvy people at your special place figured it out. See what exactly the connection is."

Alex reaches for it but stops, narrowing her eyes at Maggie. "Sawyer." There's a shit-ton of warning in her name that Maggie barely keeps herself from stiffening, but she'd been a beat cop in Gotham, she'd dealt with worse than Alex Danvers. At least she's pretty sure she has. 

"I know you're not FBI Danvers." Maggie bites out, barely keeping the offense out of her tone. "So use your special skills and find out what the fuck this is because the police are still stumped and that two high profile people that have been attacked."

Alex stares at her for a second before closing her eyes, slowly her jaw relaxes. “It wasn’t just a bomb at the President's speech, there was DNA embedded in it. I don’t know about the LCorp bomb or if there was DNA embedded in it, I’d have to get the sample to my lab.”

“What do you mean?" Maggie presses. "DNA could be from the person caught in the blast.”

Alex shakes her head, and stares at the baggy of metal shards on the table, itching to grab them and take them to the lab. “No, not the way this was set up. If it was just DNA over the particles we’d see it right away, but the bomb particles are embedded with the DNA.”

Maggie had seen bombings before, had dealt with the Penguin in Gotham, but what Alex was saying didn't sound right. Didn't sound possible. “What does that mean?”

Alex slowly reaches for the bag, slipping it into her pocket and grits out. “It means the bomb was a person, not just an object.”

Maggie can't figure this out, this heavy feeling in her chest. This nagging in her head. “Alien or human?”

“I don’t know yet." Alex rubs at her brow. "It looked human in structure, but there was something off about it. About the way the metal was within it. We’re running it again through the databases in our computers, then I’m going to have another look at it.”

“Keep me updated Danvers, i'll get you any other samples you need.” Maggie grabs at some fries, shoving them into her mouth with a low sigh.

“Just.” Alex stares at her, chewing on her lip before she grinds out. “I’ll keep you updated if you don’t tip your hand.”

Maggie stops chewing, tilting her head and meeting Alex’s sharp look. “I suppose this is about my comments at the bar?” Alex stays quiet but continues to stare at her. Maggie lets out a huff, part disbelief and part amusement. “Don’t worry secret agent woman, I won’t spill anything.”

“Good.”

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Lena stares at the results in front of her, unable to tear her eyes away from them. Everything around her is quiet and she feels so very numb. Like the last thing that made her human broke. These results told her everything she needed to know, if evil was in the Luthor name than evil was surely in Luthor blood, and Lena can no longer deny the fact that she may very well turn out exactly like her brother. She no longer had the excuse of being adopted by them, no longer could she claim to be just be guilty by associated and name. She was guilty by blood now too. Every dream she'd ever wished for as a child came true when she couldn't wish it away. Her entire childhood runs in repeat through her head and every memories is now tinged, tainted by the truth in front of her. 

There's silences all around Lena before the familiar sound of heels across her floor sounds. She wants to run herself, turn away from her mother and disappear, back into a life where she wasn't associated with her brother's vitriol and her father's death. Where she didn't have to face her mother's face and doubt everything she's ever known.

"Lena?" Lillian's voice is low, garbled with terror and worry. The woman pushes the door open slowly, finding her daughter sitting at her desk, face pale and eyes dead. Lillian's heart aches, a vaguely worded text from her had sent Lillian looking for her. Desperate to find her daughter and figure out what had happened. If she was hurt, if Lex had done what he spat out he would.

“Did you know?” Lena looks up, there's a sharpness back in her eyes, but she still remains sitting. Like her limbs won't hold her up anymore.

“Lena?” Lillian furrows her brow and she steps closer, nearly reaching out for a daughter that had rejected any form of comfort from her since Lex.

“Tell me the truth mother." Lena's voice is hard, hard like Lillian's had gotten when Lionel had hid his sickness from them. "Did you know?”

Lillian stills, darting her eyes to the papers in front of Lena but unable to read them. “Know what?”

Lena's glare is part fury and disbelief but most of all it is full of anguish. “That Lionel is my father, by blood not just adoption.”

Lillian loses all calm, jolting from her position to nearly knock into Lena's desk. Her hands nearly make to grab the paper and _shred_  it as she barks out harshly. "Do not let anyone know!"

Lena jerks back and there are tears in her eyes now and her shoulders slump like her strings had been cut. "Why?" Her voice is just as defeated and Lillian want to cart her away, get her out of National City and away from CADMUS. Away from Lex's rage and influence. Away to protect her from all the horrors that she failed to keep Lex from. "Because he cheated on you?" Lena's voice grows in intensity. In anger and sorrow. "Because he forced you to face the result of his infidelity everyday?"

“Lena, no." Lillian's voice cracks, her shoulders curving and she doesn't look imposing now. Doesn't look her six feet of height. She looks like a woman who has nearly lost everything and can't keep her head above water. "I love you as my own."

"You never did. You were always pushing." Lena's face is flushed and her eyes wide, her hands shake and she speaks like she's trying to convince herself. "Always telling me I needed to do better, to try _harder_."

Lillian closes her eyes, letting out a shuddering breath. All she remembers is raising both Lex and Lena in the limelight of the tabloid that posted whatever they could and Lionel's small huffs with each copy thrown on his desk. All she can remember is the competitive gleam and playfulness Lex and Lena had as children. "Luthor's are excellence. I pushed you both. You _and_ Lex, for that, for excellence. I pushed you both, but I also love you both."

Lena stares at her, eyes wide still, slightly wet. "Did you know?"

Lillian goes soft, softer than Lena’s ever seen her. "Yes, Lionel never lied to me."

"Why didn't you tell me?” Lena trembles, everything she ever knew was falling out from under her and her mind was her worst enemy here. “Was it easier to look charitable and adopt an orphan than take in his bastard child?"

Lillian's face flushes like Lex's had once upon a time, her grey eyes blaze with a fury Lena's never seen on her face. "Enough! You are  _mine_ Lena." She steps closer to her daughter, meeting Lena's eyes, near desperate. "In every single way but blood you are  _my_  daughter. I loved you the second you stepped foot into the house." Lillian's lips tremble and her hands shake like they had when Lionel stopped getting better. 

Lena swallows, keeps the tears from falling as she tilts her chin up. "Why?"

"You were such a quiet thing." Her voice is softer than Lena had ever heard it, like speaking any louder will break everything. "But you pushed yourself. Long before I started pushing you. You wanted to do everything yourself. You liked your independence." Lillian shakes and her lips tremble as if to form a small smile. "You had the back of your dress tuck into your leggings when I first saw you and you were so  _small."_ This time her voice cracks. "I couldn't hate you."

"Does Lex know?"

"No. And he can't." Gone is the shaking and Lillian is a statue again, eyes hard and wild now, like a mother lion chasing off predators to save her cub "If they find out you have Luthor blood they will do more than kill you. There's a weapons cache that needs Luthor blood to open it."

Lena's eyes widen and her brain works out what Lillian hasn't said. "That's why there's been so many attempts to get Lex out."

Lillian clenches her jaw but manages to grit out. "Yes."

Lena stares at her mother, wants to rail and scream that Lillian isn't her mother. That she wasn't anything to the woman, but she remembers the woman who pursed her lips and sued the boy who had taunted Lena one summer at one of Lex's parties. She remembers the woman who held her when she'd broken her leg. The woman who tapped her chin after the tabloids posted articles and pictures of Lena and her girlfriend, and murmured for her to keep her chin up, that the tabloid didn't matter. She remembers the woman who stood by her side when Lionel died and she remembers her leaving when Lex went to prison. But most of all she remembers that Lillian is her mother. That Lillian loves her in her own way and Lena loves her mother just as much. Lena sighs, soft and nearly inaudible. "God mother, this-"

"I know." Lillian says and her eyes are fractured, cautious like she think Lena may bolt. And Lena gets flashes of when she first arrived at the house. Lillian had hung back, like she didn't know how to act around a child. She remembers Lillian looking over Lex's designs. The way her eyes lit up. Remembers the way Lillian's face had cracked, nearly grinning, when Lena had her science experiment tear the kitchen apart. That soft pride in there and the innate sharpness that Lillian passed onto Lex. Lillian steps close and reaches for Lena's hand, hesitant like she thinks Lena will jerk away. Lena grips her hand back, tight and unrelenting as Lillian breathes out a sigh of relief and regret. "I'm so sorry my dear."

* * *

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Alex stares at the final results as she sits across from Maggie, they didn't make sense. The LCorp Bomb and the Presidential bomb were nearly identical except for one aspect. The Presidential one contained the human genome and the LCorp contained none, which explains the uncontrolled blast radius. The two bombs were nearly humanoid technology with some alien aspects. The second bomb was mixed perfectly with the human genome though. It wasn't just a bomb and it wasn't just a human. Maggie looks at the results with the same trepidation Alex feels. "What the hell does that even mean?"

Alex's hands nearly shake as the conclusion is worse than anything she could have imagined. "That someone has managed to combine explosive technology with the human body."

Maggie stares at the results. "Holy shit." She's still, stiller than Alex has seen her in the few days of knowing her. "Is it alien? Was I wrong?"

"No, it's human, they reused some alien tech." Alex rubs at her face, brow pinched and her suspicions she'd mentioned to Kara are only confirmed by these results. "It's gotta be CADMUS."

"CADMUS?" Maggie says the word thick, like she can't figure out what exactly it is.

"Anti-alien."

This forces the detective to stiffen. "What do you mean anti-alien?"

Alex blinks at her, brow furrowed. "They aren't very alien friendly."

Maggie chest stills and she doesn't want this to be true but she pushes with all her Gotham brashness. "They military?"

Alex narrows her eyes sharply, suspicious. "Why are you asking?"

Maggie nearly throws the papers on the floor, she settles for putting a little bit of space between her and Alex. "Because aliens are disappearing left and right, I knew there was more to it." Maggie's voice grows frustrated. "They're experimenting on them right? It's why so many of them show up dead with syringe marks. _Goddamn_ it!"

Alex doesn't even flinch at Maggie's explosion, she instead searches Maggie's face, like the woman's a puzzle. "What do you know so far?"

"That there's three of you." Maggie glares at her, arms uncross and hands ready like Alex may attack her. "The government, the military and the underground."

Alex stiffens. "Excuse me?"

Maggie scoffs, fist clenching. She had hoped it wasn't true, but Alex had brought her results. Alex had spoken of another organization that hated aliens like she too doesn't imprison them. "You take aliens off the street, you know you do." Maggie hisses out. "You're the government branch. Snatching them away and imprisoning them!"

Alex jerks like she's been shock before she too explodes. "They broke the law!"

"Then let the police handle them!" Maggie's eyes are wide and she shakes, vibrates with her rage and grief. "Do you even understand the damages you do? To their families? You tear them _apart."_

Alex trembles, and her voice is a weak croak. "They're criminals."

"Yeah." Maggie says lowly. "Doesn't mean they deserve life without trial or parole. You're giving them a life sentence!" Alex flinches back at the last two words, closing her eyes, all she can think of is Kara and Astra.

Alex deflates, shoulders slumping and self-hatred rushing across her face. "I know." 

Maggie searches her, finds what she was looking for. "You get it right?" Her voice goes soft, and she steps carefully closer. Cautious like Alex might not want her any closer. "I knew you would."

"Why?"

"Because you're just protecting what is yours." Maggie steps even closer, understanding painting her voice and features. "I know how that is."

"The Alien Amnesty Act will change everything." Alex says, like its a saving grace. Like it's a last ditch effort at hope. "The President's been looking into changing how we operate."

"And your people are fine with that?"

"We're not horrible, we're not CADMUS." Maggie doesn't know what button she hit, what exact words she said to give Alex that pained look in her eyes. "We give the prisoners what the need, most of them are the worst in the galaxy."

Maggie lets out a low sound, wanting to shake some sense into Alex, she hadn't know the woman long, but she recognizes a kindred spirit. "And some of them are our next door neighbors. It's not your job to play judge and jury, they deserve what everyone else gets." They stand in silence before Maggie presses. "You said the military group was called CADMUS? Like the Greek myth?"

Alex stares at the results in front of her, her eyes burning. "Yeah, this is the only explanation for these things, human and alien tech. They're basically nanites that bonded with the blood."

"Did you find out who it was?"

Alex pulls out a piece of paper, sliding it over to Maggie. "A scientist from Metropolis, he fell off the face of the Earth years ago."

"To work for CADMUS?"

"Probably, but this doesn't make any sense." Alex's eyes are frazzled and Maggie hopes she hasn't broken Alex, that the woman won't crash and burn without the crutch of excuses she had for imprisoning aliens. "CADMUS doesn't do human attacks."

Maggie flips through pictures of the explosion site, catches the signs of the protesters. "Maybe it was because there was alien haters there?"

"I don't know."

"We just have to find the connection between the two bombings." Maggie stares at the paper work. "Wait, this say he went to that big science college in Metropolis, isn't that the one Luthor went to?"

Alex nods, a wrinkle forming between her eyes. "Yeah, so if he went to school with Lex that's the connection to the Luthors." Alex shrugs, confusion written across her face. "But why go after Lena Luthor? The bomb went off and then there was the assassination attempt on her, that didn't happen to the President."

"Because Lena Luthor took over LCorp and changed it, it's no longer just a weapons manufacturer."

"Lex worked for CADMUS." Alex says lowly, nearly in shock.

Maggie shakes her head, disgusted. "His anti-alien views tie with CADMUS's I suppose."

"They must be evolving, attacking the President." Alex drums her fingers across the table, jaw clenched. "It doesn't make any sense still, they've been in the shadows for a long time."

"Maybe it was just a scare tactic." Maggie dealt with more of those than she could count in Gotham, usually there was a reason behind it. "Something to bring all the attention onto the President and her Alien Amnesty Act. The media haven't dropped it yet."

Alex’s eyes widen as she comes to a conclusion Maggie hasn't reached yet. "Shit!" She grabs her phone typing in a number as she yells at Maggie. "Check on Lex Luthor's imprisonment! _Now."_ There's actual fear in her eyes is what pushes Maggie into acting quicker than her words do.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Lillian moves down the halls of the CADMUS building, it's underground and everything she'd once expected from a secret military base. She scans her hand and a door hisses open to a lab in the back area of the building, hidden away from most of the others. Her mind is still reeling from her conversation with Lena. That Lena had discovered the truth so quickly and that some of the wide cavern between them had been mended. She stares at the person in front of her. He hasn't realized she's here yet, continuing to write in his notebook, dark hair unkempt and hand scratching notes across the page. "Have you finished?"

The man looks up slowly, not even startled by her presence he blinks up at her and Lillian remembered the first time she'd seen him all those years ago, when he'd had defiance still in his eyes and rage in his blood. Right now, he looks as broken as any man could be. "The experiment was successful." There's no pride in his voice, no vitriol either. Simple, monotone, its what Lillian had come to recognize as his default setting.

Lillian steps forward, looking over his notes, the chicken scratch of his handwriting and the equations running on the computer. She recognizes most of it, but some of it is new. "What changed Jeremiah?"

"The previous notes on the cloning trial, they were useful for combing to the human genetics, but there was no way to bond the Kryptonian genetics." Jeremiah’s face is still impassive, more than a little pale but the pallor is expected of a man who hasn’t seen the outside world in ten years.

Lillian finds a weight lifted off her shoulders, if this was true than the scientist had lied and all was well. There were no kinks to be thrown in her plan. "So, it was a failed experiment on his part?"

Jeremiah looks at her, blinking like one would expect of a docile animal. "There is no record of the supposed clone of Superman." 

She nearly closes her eyes in relief, nearly show a weakness in front of Jeremiah before she catches herself. "And the ship that was launched the night he said the boy escaped?"

"A lie." There's something in his eyes, something that itches at Lillian's brain, but they'd come to rely on one another in the pits of CADMUS, so she doesn't say anything. "It seems the ship was empty as you expected it to be."

Lillian smiles, doesn't reach to touch his shoulder, knows he will jerk away as if burned. "You've done well Jeremiah, the nanites worked perfectly."

"He's dead?" There's a spark in his eyes now, a brief flicker of life in this husk of a man.

Lillian feels a sick sense of satisfaction that the doctor, that the scientist that had killed so many of their own people and so many of the captured, that she can't even hate the way she and Jeremiah share a smile of satisfaction at his death. "Very much, barely a trace left of him to be honest."

The spark burns, brighter than any wildfire and if he weren't working for her right now Lillian would be more than a little cautious. "You will be purging them?"

Lillian moves around the lab now, taking inventory of his near OCD organization. Her fingers trail along the machines and she spots the chess board he has set up in the corner. It's mirrors the one she has at home down to the last pawn. Her lips twitch and she grabs the king, twisting him in her fingers. "CADMUS's previous leaders had no vision."

There is a silence that drag before Jeremiah murmurs quietly, staring at Lillian like she isn’t one of the providers for CADMUS. Like she hadn't had to fill Lionel's spot when he died. He looks at her like she may very well be his salvation. He looks more alive than Lillian's ever seen him. "The Master wants to make a move on LCorp."

She stiffens, knows Jeremiah is speaking about conversations he's overheard while being overlooked. "Why is that?"

"Your little bishop has been flushing out CADMUS's pawns." His eyes dart to the board and then to the king in her hand, there's a little bit more life in them now. "The Master doesn't like not having LCorp technologies."

She places the king back in his spot, protected by his queen and one of his knights. "The Master does not control all of CADMUS, are you with me or are you the Master's?"

Jeremiah blinks at her and she can see the man he once was, behind years of torture and isolation that he had gone through. "I am CADMUS's."

Lillian smiles slowly at the way he words things, always so cautious, still as sharp as he was those years ago when Lex had dragged Lillian in here, gleeful and hopping mad like he didn't already know she had filled Lionel's spot. "Good, CADMUS needs your intellect. I want your final notes on all of his experiments."

Jeremiah stiffens, some of his old life back in him now that the _good_ doctor is dead. "You want to combine the human body and kryptonite still?" 

Lillian remembers the ten lost to that experiment, the lack of care for life. She stares at Jeremiah and finds what she’s looking for in his sharp eyes and dulled stonic face. "No, we've lost enough soldiers to his ideas."

His shoulder's loose that tightness and he stares at her, searching. "Then what am I to do with his notes?"

"Find out where the doctor went wrong before his untimely death, searching for a way to fix it will keep the others off of your trail." She knows they will either finish this together and do what is necessary or they will both die. They just have to play the game a little longer.

"And the kryptonite?"

Lillian's lips pulled into a smile, terrifying and sharp. "We'll let The Master do as he wishes, he stills control part of CADMUS. If he wants to chase down the DEO and steal their supplies, he will do as he wishes." Her fingers tighten on the edge of one of the tables and she stares at the chess board. "We will do as planned."

Jeremiah stares at her and sees what she's hidden all these years. She's not a wolf in sheep clothing, lulling the sheep into a false sense of security, of protection. She's a fox in the hen-house where the chickens don't even know they're prey. "Of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. Maggie is a lesbian, anyone who has even heard the name knows this. So I just want to say I know Maggie is a lesbian and I know the 'lesbian sleeping with a man trope' is over used and hurts some people, so I just wanted to clarify this. Maggie slept with James out of a need to try and be what her parents wanted her to be (She called them in a last ditch effort to gain their approval for graduating Gotham Academy). It was just one drunken night where they were both hurting and did something that does not change who they are or change Maggie's sexuality. In the comics Maggie is married to James at one point and they divorce, James gaining custody of Jamie. I didn't want to go that route for this story so I tweaked it. This was the easiest way to bring Jamie into the story and give Maggie the support, family and background she deserved to have in the show.
> 
> P.P.S: I know there wasn't a bunch of family scenes in this chapter, but this was a chapter that pushes the plot and evolves the side-characters a little.


End file.
